[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 13018]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF VOTING RIGHTS ACT

  (Mr. KILDEE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. KILDEE. Mr. Speaker, August 6 marks the 50th anniversary of the 
signing of the Voting Rights Act, which is a landmark piece of 
legislation that expanded civil rights and protected one of our most 
fundamental democratic rights, and that is the right of every person to 
have the right to vote.
  Unfortunately, though, 2 years ago, the Supreme Court gutted many of 
the Voting Rights Act's most important protections. Since then, despite 
some commitments right at that moment, since then, Republican 
leadership has refused to allow a strengthened Voting Rights Act to 
come to the floor.
  Instead of working to ensure that every American has the right to 
vote, we have seen more efforts to suppress votes, disenfranchising 
hard-working Americans; yet on the floor, we have had, at the same 
time, our entire appropriations process held up because of the fear of 
the Republicans that they may have to cast a vote on whether or not we 
should display the Confederate battle flag in the year 2015.
  We can't get a Voting Rights Act bill to the floor, but our entire 
appropriations process is held up over the Confederate battle flag--
seriously? It is 2015. Let's bring the Voting Rights Act to the floor 
now.

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