[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13618]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                THE RIGHT TO VOTE IS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Schiff) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, the right to vote is the most fundamental 
right in any democracy since it is the right from which all others 
meaningfully derive.
  Deny someone the right to vote, and you may deny them the right to 
speak, to associate with whom they choose, or to freely exercise their 
faith. For if these other rights are infringed, how may we seek redress 
but at the ballot box?
  Not even the courts can secure our rights in the absence of an 
effective franchise. Congress established the inferior courts, and 
Congress may abolish them. The right to vote alone is foundation to all 
of the others.
  So it is deeply disturbing to see the right to vote being diminished 
in many States. These new State laws restrict voter registration 
drives, eliminate same-day voter registration, reduce the early voting 
period, and require photo identification and proof of citizenship to 
vote.
  In total, 34 States have passed laws now requiring voters to show 
some kind of identification at the polls. For many Americans who 
already are registered to vote and can provide this documentation, 
these new requirements may not sound burdensome. But although these new 
laws apply to all Americans, they disproportionately impact young, 
elderly, minority, low-income, and disabled voters.
  Eleven percent of American citizens do not have a photo ID; 7 percent 
do not have citizenship documents. That means a significant number of 
eligible voters have been disenfranchised by these new laws.
  It has been argued that it is appropriate to put a significant burden 
on people who simply want to cast their vote because voter fraud is 
widespread, but it is not. It is true that in jurisdictions which allow 
people to pay a bounty for new voter registration cards that voter 
registration fraud exists. But voter registration fraud is not the same 
as voter fraud, since these false registrations do not result in 
nonexistent people voting.
  The fraud artists should be prosecuted for violating the law and 
cluttering up the voter registration rolls, but legitimate voters 
should not be disenfranchised. Rather, we should crack down on the 
bounty system that incentivizes this kind of misconduct.
  These new and stringent voter ID laws will not stop voter 
registration fraud, but they will prevent legitimate voters from 
casting their ballots. Indeed, in many places, this is their very 
intention. They are the worst form of voter suppression, not voter 
protection.
  The backward movement on voting rights is not confined to the States. 
The Supreme Court has also made it more difficult to ensure adequate 
protection from disenfranchisement.
  Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act required that nine States and many 
other counties and municipalities around the country with histories of 
voter discrimination obtain Federal preclearance before changing voter 
laws. However, the Supreme Court, in Shelby County v. Holder, ruled 
that the formula to determine which jurisdictions must get preclearance 
is out-of-date.
  Immediately thereafter, Texas announced that a previously blocked 
voter identification law would go into effect and that redistricting 
maps would no longer need Federal approval, actions that could severely 
undermine minority voting rights in that State.

                              {time}  1015

  In January, the Voting Rights Amendment Act was introduced to restore 
and strengthen the protections of the VRA that were dismantled by the 
Supreme Court. This bill was introduced by Congressman John Conyers and 
Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, demonstrating the bipartisan support for 
restoring a crowning achievement of the civil rights movement. I am a 
strong supporter of the Voting Rights Amendment Act, and I am 
encouraged that Members of both parties see the need for this 
legislation.
  As a country, we have made incredible progress in expanding the right 
to vote to previously disenfranchised populations. Now is not the time 
to turn the clock back. We should, instead, be moving forward, ever 
forward, and encouraging legal, eligible voters to fully participate in 
their government, in democracy, and in voting--not working to exclude 
them.
  Congress must commit to passing the Voting Rights Amendment Act and 
ensuring that the ballot boxes in our States, in our Nation, and in our 
democracy remain open to all.

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