[House Report 109-554]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



109th Congress                                                   Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session                                                     109-554

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 PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF H.R. 9, FANNIE LOU HAMER, ROSA PARKS, 
AND CORETTA SCOTT KING VOTING RIGHTS ACT REAUTHORIZATION AND AMENDMENTS 
                              ACT OF 2006

                                _______
                                

   July 12, 2006.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

   Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida, from the Committee on Rules, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                       [To accompany H. Res. 910]

    The Committee on Rules, having had under consideration 
House Resolution 910, by a record vote of 8 to 3, report the 
same to the House with the recommendation that the resolution 
be adopted.

                SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF THE RESOLUTION

    The resolution provides for the consideration of H.R. 9, 
the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting 
Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006, under a 
structured rule. The rule provides 90 minutes of general debate 
equally divided and controlled by the Majority Leader and the 
Minority Leader or their designees. The rule waives all points 
of order against consideration of the bill.
    The rule provides that the amendment in the nature of a 
substitute recommended by the Committee on the Judiciary now 
printed in the bill shall be considered as an original bill for 
the purpose of amendment and shall be considered as read.
    The rule makes in order only those amendments printed in 
this report. The rule provides that the amendments made in 
order may be offered only in the order printed in this report, 
may be offered only by a Member designated in this report, 
shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time 
specified in this report equally divided and controlled by the 
proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, 
and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the 
question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. The 
rule waives all points of order against the amendments printed 
in this report.
    Finally, the rule provides one motion to recommit with or 
without instructions.

                         EXPLANATION OF WAIVERS

    The Committee on Rules is not aware of any points of order 
against consideration of the bill or against the amendments. 
The waivers of all points of order are prophylactic in nature.

                            COMMITTEE VOTES

    Pursuant to clause 3(b) of House rule XIII the results of 
each record vote on an amendment or motion to report, together 
with the names of those voting for and against, are printed 
below:

Rules Committee record vote No. 232

    Date: July 12, 2006.
    Measure: H.R. 9, Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta 
Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act 
of 2006.
    Motion by: Mr. Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
    Summary of motion: To report the rule.
    Results: Agreed to 8 to 3.
    Vote by Members: Diaz-Balart--Yea; Hastings (WA)--Yea; 
Putnam--Yea; Capito--Yea; Cole--Yea; Bishop--Yea; Gingrey--Yea; 
McGovern--Nay; Hastings (FL)--Nay; Matsui--Nay; Dreier--Yea.

                  SUMMARY OF AMENDMENTS MADE IN ORDER

    (Summaries derived from information provided by sponsors.)
    1. Norwood (GA): Updates the formula in section 4 of the 
Voting Rights Act (VRA) that determines which states and 
jurisdictions will be covered under Section 5 of the VRA. This 
updated formula would be a rolling test based off of the last 
three presidential elections. Any state would be subject to 
Section 5 if it currently has a discriminatory test in place or 
voter turnout of less than 50% in any of the three most recent 
presidential elections. (40 minutes)
    2. Gohmert (TX): Makes the reauthorization period 10 years, 
rather than the 25 years proposed in H.R. 9. (40 minutes)
    3. King, Steve (IA)/Istook (OK)/Miller, Candice (MI)/Brown-
Waite (FL)/Bachus (AL): Strikes sections 7 and 8 of the bill. 
These sections relate to multilingual ballots and use of 
American Community Survey census data, and they would 
automatically expire in 2007. (40 minutes)
    4. Westmoreland (GA): Provides for an expedited, proactive 
procedure to bail out from coverage under the preclearance 
portions of the Voting Rights Act, by requiring the Department 
of Justice to assemble a list of all jurisdictions eligible for 
bailout and to notify the jurisdictions. The Department of 
Justice is then required to consent to the entry of a 
declaratory judgment allowing bailout if a jurisdiction appears 
on the list. Adds a three-year initial time period (and 
annually thereafter) for assembly of the bailout list by the 
Department of Justice. (40 minutes)

                    TEXT OF AMENDMENTS MADE IN ORDER

1. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Norwood of Georgia, or 
                 His Designee, Debatable for 40 Minutes

  Page 11, strike lines 1 through 3.
  Page 11, line 4, strike ``(2)'' and insert ``(1)''.
  Page 11, line 7, strike ``(3)'' and insert ``(2)''.
  Add at the end the following:

SEC. 10. CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION FOR PRECLEARANCE AND OTHER PROVISIONS 
                    OF TITLE I.

  The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.) is 
amended--
          (1) in the first sentence of section 4(a)(1), by 
        striking ``the first two sentences of'';
          (2) by striking the second sentence of section 
        4(a)(1);
          (3) in section 4(a), by striking ``or (in the case of 
        a State or subdivision seeking a declaratory judgment 
        under the second sentence of this subsection)'' each 
        place it appears;
          (4) so that subsection (b) of section 4 reads as 
        follows:
  ``(b)(1) Subsection (a) applies in any State or subdivision 
of a State that the Attorney General determines maintains a 
test or device, or with respect to which the Director of the 
Census determines that less than 50 percent of the citizens of 
voting age residing therein were registered on November 1 of a 
critical year, or that less than 50 percent of those citizens 
voted in the presidential election of that critical year. The 
critical years for the purposes of this Act are the 3 years in 
which the last preceding presidential elections took place.
  ``(2) A determination under paragraph (1) is not reviewable 
in any court and shall take effect upon publication in the 
Federal Register.'';
          (5) in section 4(f)(4), by striking ``the second 
        sentence of section 4(a)'' and inserting ``subsection 
        (a)''; and
          (6) in section 5, by striking ``Whenever a State or 
        political'' and all that follows through ``1972'' and 
        inserting ``Whenever a State or political subdivision 
        with respect to which the prohibitions set forth in 
        section 4(a) based on a determination made under 
        section 4(b) enacts or seeks to administer any voting 
        qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, 
        practice, or procedure with respect to voting different 
        from that in force or effect on the day before that 
        determination was made''.
                              ----------                              


 2. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Gohmert of Texas, or 
                 His Designee, Debatable for 40 Minutes

  Strike section 4 and insert the following:

SEC. 4. EXTENSION OF TITLES I AND II.

  Section 4(a) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 
1973b(a)) is amended--
          (1) in paragraph (7), by striking ``at the end'' and 
        all that follows through ``1982'' and inserting 
        ``before August 6, 2016''; and
          (2) in paragraph (8), by striking ``at the end'' and 
        all that follows through ``1982'' and inserting ``on 
        August 6, 2016''.
  In section 7, strike ``2032'' and insert ``2016''.
                              ----------                              


 3. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative King of Iowa, or His 
                   Designee, Debatable for 40 Minutes

    Strike sections 7 and 8.
                              ----------                              


    4. An Amendment To Be Offered by Representative Westmoreland of 
           Georgia, or His Designee, Debatable for 40 Minutes

    Add at the end the following:

SEC. __. EXPEDITED DECLARATORY JUDGMENT IN CERTAIN CASES.

  Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is amended by 
adding at the end the following: ``The Attorney General shall, 
not later than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this 
sentence, and annually thereafter, determine whether each State 
and political subdivision to which the requirements of this 
section apply meets the requirements for a declaratory judgment 
under section 4(a). The Attorney General shall inform the 
public and each State or political subdivision of the 
determination with respect to that State or subdivision. The 
Attorney General shall consent to the entry of judgment in 
favor of a State or political subdivision that seeks such a 
declaratory judgment if the Attorney General has determined 
that State or subdivision currently meets the requirements.''.

                                  
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