[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 10414]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             PROTECTING THE BALLOT BOX FROM DISCRIMINATION

  (Mr. BARROW of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BARROW of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise to express my 
disappointment in the Supreme Court's decision striking down the 
preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act.
  Mr. Speaker, making sure that our election laws are fair is the most 
important job in a democracy because the right to vote is the right on 
which everything else depends. Countless Americans have marched for it, 
suffered for it, and shed their blood for it.
  In Georgia, one of the greatest proponents of the Voting Rights Act, 
our colleague, Congressman John Lewis, knows all too well the price 
that's been paid to make sure that election laws are not only open but 
fair to all concerned.
  We can't go back to the days when majorities can pass laws that limit 
or diminish the voting strength of minorities. I'm calling on my 
colleagues in Congress, Republicans and Democrats, not to let this 
issue die. We need to do what is right and ensure, once and for all, 
that folks aren't discriminated against at the ballot box.

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