Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006
FANNIE LOU HAMER, ROSA PARKS, AND CORETTA SCOTT KING VOTING RIGHTS ACT REAUTHORIZATION AND AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2006 -- (House of Representatives - July 13, 2006)
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Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 9--bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and in opposition to the King amendment.
Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King--together with thousands of other Americans--fought tirelessly to vanquish discrimination and exclusion.
I recall their sacrifice for my colleagues, along with the observation of Dr. King during his 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage to Washington:
``All types of conniving methods are still being used to prevent the Negroes from becoming registered voters,'' Dr. King declared. ``The denial of this sacred right is a tragic betrayal of the highest mandates of our democratic tradition.''
Unfortunately, our nation still needs the protections that the VRA provides--I cite the states of Georgia, Ohio, and Florida as recent examples that represent the betrayal to which Dr. King refers.
Mr. Chairman, the four amendments approved by the Rules Committee are poison pills for the VRA. All four diminish the right to vote, are constitutionally unsound and violate the intent of the act. This amendment is no exception.
I urge my colleagues to vote to reauthorize the VRA--without the poison pill amendments.
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Mr. CUMMINGS. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of H.R. 9--bipartisan legislation that will extend and strengthen the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King--together with thousands of other Americans--fought tirelessly to vanquish discrimination and exclusion.
Forty years ago, millions of Americans were excluded from our democratic process.
In many States, voters were required to pass impractical literacy tests or pay hefty poll taxes.
It was to carry the American democratic journey beyond these failings that Black citizens and civil rights workers risked unemployment, violence and death.
I recall their sacrifice for this House, along with the observation of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during his 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage to Washington.
``All types of conniving methods are still being used to prevent the Negroes from becoming registered voters,'' Dr. King declared. ``The denial of this sacred right is a tragic betrayal of the highest mandates of our democratic tradition.''
Eight years later, during the Selma voting rights marches, televised pictures of a vicious ``Bloody Sunday'' attack on unarmed Americans touched the conscience of this Nation--leading directly to enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Mr. Chairman, this landmark legislation, often called the most important civil rights law of all, is still important in our own time.
From my own life experience, I can attest that we have come a long way toward universal justice in this country, but we are not there yet.
I note that a Federal court recently upheld a Voting Rights Act challenge to a proposed Georgia requirement that would require every voter to present a government photo ID before voting--a requirement, the court held, that would disproportionately burden minority voters.
And in the Texas redistricting cases that the Supreme Court just decided, the Court held that Texas District 23 violates the Voting Rights Act by making it more difficult for Latino-Americans to elect representatives of their own choosing.
In communities like my own throughout the country, the Voting Rights Act is the very foundation of our faith that America is moving forward toward the day when ``liberty and justice for all'' will truly prevail.
Americans of our own time--minority and majority Americans alike--need the continued guidance that the Voting Rights Act provides. We have come a long way, but more needs to be done.
The four amendments approved by the Rules Committee are poison pills for this bill and the sponsors know this. Any plan or scheme--by purpose or effect--that would diminish the right to vote is un-American and violative of the act.
With this renewal of the Voting Rights Act, we have the opportunity to live up to Dr. King's vision of a better, more unified country.
``Give us the ballot,'' Dr. King declared during that 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage to Washington, ``and we will ..... fill our legislative halls with men of good will and send to the sacred halls of Congress men who will not sign a southern manifesto because of their devotion to the manifesto of justice.''
Mr. Chairman, we can be those noble people whom Dr. King prophesied, the people who reaffirm and strengthen that truly American manifesto of justice that reads:
``The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.''
These are inspiring and powerful words, Mr. Chairman.
Our duty is clear. Vote to reauthorize VRA without the gutting amendments.
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