[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10633]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              SUPREME COURT DECISION ON VOTING RIGHTS ACT

  (Ms. LEE of California asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. LEE of California. Mr. Speaker, I join with the Congressional 
Black Caucus to talk about this week's Supreme Court decision on the 
Voting Rights Act, which is a devastating blow to one of our most 
fundamental rights, and that is the right to vote.
  I was born and raised in Texas and I vividly remember the days of Jim 
Crow, segregation, and the poll tax. The Supreme Court decision could 
turn the clock back to these very, very tragic days in our American 
history.
  It is truly tragic how the majority of the Court has simply refused 
to acknowledge these real threats to our voting rights and turned its 
back on the law that people fought and died for.
  Now is the time for urgent, bipartisan congressional action. We must 
defend the heart and soul of this democracy.
  As our drum major for justice, Dr. Martin Luther King, once said, 
``Voting is the foundation stone for political action.''
  I am reminded of this every year when I march across the Edmund 
Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, with our great warrior, Congressman 
John Lewis, who really sacrificed so much for justice and for freedom.
  Truly, our votes are the bedrock of our democracy.

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