[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12159]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT

  (Mr. VEASEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the approaching 50th 
anniversary of the Voting Rights Act and talk about the importance of 
restoring the Voting Rights Act as well.
  For decades, the Voting Rights Act has stood as the guardian for all 
Americans to exercise their right to vote. But 2 years ago, the Supreme 
Court reversed course on expanding voting rights when it ruled that 
section 4 of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional. Just hours 
after that ruling, my home State of Texas immediately began enforcing 
discriminatory laws against minority citizens from voting.
  I sued the State to fight these unconstitutional efforts in Veasey v. 
Perry, which the United States district court agreed that Rick Perry, 
then the Governor of Texas, signed an intentionally discriminatory 
Texas voter photo ID law. It was under Perry's watch as Governor of 
Texas that the State legislature passed the most egregious voter ID law 
in the entire country.
  Mr. Speaker, as we await the decision of the Fifth Circuit Court of 
Appeals on Veasey v. Perry, House Democrats will continue to fight 
against obstacles to voter participation and talk about the importance 
of restoring the Voting Rights Act. As you can tell by what is going on 
in Texas, it needs to be done now.

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