[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 13020]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         VOTER EMPOWERMENT ACT

  (Mr. KENNEDY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. Speaker, the right to vote is the bedrock principle 
of our democracy. It is something to be cherished and held sacred.
  Although it did not come without struggle or without sacrifice, the 
Voting Rights Act moved us step by step beyond the disenfranchisement 
that held entire segments of our population voiceless for far too long. 
But today, as we approach its 50th anniversary, the strides we have 
made through that historic legislation are at risk.
  Two years ago, when the Supreme Court overturned a critical safeguard 
enacted in the VRA, many of our most vulnerable citizens--some who were 
on the front lines of this fight for decades--were again pushed to the 
sidelines of our democracy.
  With each passing day of inaction in this Congress by House 
Republican leadership, we are not just standing passively by as the 
voices of voters go unheard; we are actively walking backwards along 
the march towards civil rights--step by step, day by day.
  It is time to pass the Voter Empowerment Act and make good on our 
promise, one that has made us a model for young democracies around the 
world--that every vote counts, that every voice matters, and that all 
of our citizens have a right to vote.

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