    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [June 17, 1993]
    [Page 877]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on the Voting Rights Act of 1965
    June 17, 1993

        The Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been a topic of substantial
    discussion in recent days. I want to make absolutely clear my full
    support for the act.
        The Voting Rights Act is central to our Nation's efforts to
    eradicate racial discrimination and secure equal opportunity for all
    Americans. As I said last month upon signing the motor voter bill, the
    Voting Rights Act is part of a great tradition of laws that have widened
    the circle of liberty to encompass more and more of our citizens. This
    administration remains unwavering in its commitment to effective
    enforcement of the act and the Nation's other civil rights laws.
        The Voting Rights Act was adopted to give reality to the 15th
    amendment's guarantee of the right to vote, the most basic right of a
    democracy. When first adopted in 1965, the act responded to long-
    entrenched barriers that systematically denied voting rights to African-
    Americans. As more subtle forms of disenfranchisement came to be
    employed, the Congress, with bipartisan agreement, strengthened and
    extended the Voting Rights Act in 1982. The Voting Rights Act offers two
    major protections: It imposes a nationwide prohibition of any electoral
    process that results in discrimination, and requires that certain
    specially covered jurisdictions obtain administrative or judicial
    preclearance before implementing voting changes.
        I fully and enthusiastically support Attorney General Janet Reno,
    and the attorneys of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of
    Justice, in their efforts to enforce vigorously the Voting Rights Act.
    Where the Voting Rights Act is violated, this administration will
    continue, as it has in pending Supreme Court litigation in which the
    Department of Justice has filed briefs, to seek effective relief by
    applying the full range of remedies available under law, including
    remedies that have previously been employed by the Department of Justice
    or approved by the courts. I also look forward to working with Attorney
    General Reno and Members of Congress to enact legislation, as needed, to
    clarify and reinforce the protections of the Voting Rights Act.
        In 1965, President Johnson hailed the Voting Rights Act as ``a
    triumph for freedom as huge as any victory that has ever been won on any
    battlefield.'' Effective enforcement of the Voting Rights Act will allow
    us to continue that triumph. Inclusion of all Americans in the political
    process is necessary if we are to work together as communities, States,
    and a nation to address the difficult challenges that confront us all.