[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10634]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1850
                           VOTING RIGHTS ACT

  (Ms. KELLY of Illinois asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Ms. KELLY of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my 
colleagues to right a shameful wrong committed by the Supreme Court and 
update the Voting Rights Act to restore an essential protection against 
voter discrimination.
  By gutting the Voting Rights Act, the Court greatly dishonored those 
who fought and died to protect the rights of the disenfranchised, who 
continue to face pervasive voting discrimination. Recent efforts in 
parts of the country to impose voter ID laws, to limit access to early 
voting and to gerrymander districts to hinder the minority vote serve 
as irrefutable proof that voter discrimination remains a real threat to 
our democracy. The Voting Rights Act prevented discrimination in these 
cases, something it can't do as it exists now.
  We must act immediately to fix the gaping hole in this vital 
protection of the right to vote. Each day that passes without a strong 
Voting Rights Act is another day justice is deferred. We have a moral 
imperative to act swiftly in a bipartisan manner to get this done. I 
urge my colleagues to act now.

                          ____________________