Posted March 23rd, 2015 at 2:21 pm (UTC-5)
Mr. Speaker, first, let me thank Congresswoman Robin Kelly for hosting this important Special Order. I appreciate your leadership in organizing today’s important discussion.
Last weekend, I had the honor of joining more than one hundred members of Congress, faith leaders and activists, to honor Bloody Sunday and the march from Selma to Montgomery.
We gathered in Selma to celebrate and honor the courage of ordinary Americans willing to face tear gas, billy clubs, and risk their lives to ensure equal treatment under the law.
The march from Selma to Montgomery helped change the course of history. They faced extreme opposition and their actions that day on Edmund Pettus bridge proved that non-violent change is possible.
Ten days after the march from Selma to Montgomery, President Lyndon Johnson sent to Congress the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a cornerstone of our democracy.
In the 50 years since Bloody Sunday, our nation has made significant progress. To deny this progress, as the President mentioned in his speech in Selma, is to rob us of our own agency, our own capacity, and what we can do to make America better.
As we pause to mark this important anniversary and reflect on its effect on history, we know that the battle for full voting rights wages on.
When the Supreme Court struck down the pre-clearance formula, states can change their election laws without prior federal approval–the ruling gutted the heart of the Voting Rights Act.
The Voting Rights Act pre-clearance requirement afforded millions of voters confidence that roadblocks will not be thrown in their way as they try to exercise their fundamental right to vote.
It provided voters with the knowledge that the federal government can be a backstop against oppressive laws and prevent voter discrimination before it happened.
Now voter suppression is once again rearing its ugly head in the form of registration restrictions, voter ID laws, decreased access to early voting and racially-motivated redistricting that is stopping people from their right to vote.
Now, I was born and raised in Texas and I vividly remember the days of Jim Crow, segregation, and poll taxes.
The tactics being used today may be more subtle; but they serve the same purpose: to prevent Americans from exercising their fundamental right to vote.
Mr. Speaker–Enough is enough.
As the heirs of the civil rights movement, we cannot allow these assaults to stand.
We must be defiant.
We must stand up to those that want to turn back the clock and restrict our right to vote. We have come too far to go back now.
Sadly, voting rights is not the only place that inequality exists.
More than 45 million Americans are still living in poverty. African Americans have a poverty rate that is nearly three times the poverty rate of white Americans.
The 10.4 percent unemployment rate among African Americans is nearly twice the national average.
Discrimination and racial bias remains endemic in our justice system.
We can start to address these issues this year–by working to restore the Voting Rights Act. One hundred members of Congress visited Selma to commemorate Bloody Sunday and as President Obama eloquently stated, we must go back to Washington and gather four hundred more.
We can restore this law by passing a bipartisan bill, H.R. 855, The Voting Rights Amendment Act, which I am a proud cosponsor.
This bill will help undo some of the damage done by the Supreme Court’s decision.
Just as Congress acted 50 years ago after the stirring events in Selma, Congress must act today to address the issues facing our nation.
Mr. Speaker–We cannot afford to backslide on the progress we have made.
We cannot afford to lose the prize that our forefathers and mothers fought, bled and died to obtain and preserve.
We must stand together–stronger than ever–to raise our voices, march in the streets, and cast our ballots to demand change.
I am reminded of Dr. King’s “Two Americas” speech on April 14th, 1967 at Stanford University, when he said:
We must come to see that social progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals.
Rep. Lee is the U.S. Representative for California’s 13th congressional district.
The Battle Wages On: Securing Equal Voting Rights In The United States
Mr. Speaker, first, let me thank Congresswoman Robin Kelly for hosting this important Special Order. I appreciate your leadership in organizing today’s important discussion.
Last weekend, I had the honor of joining more than one hundred members of Congress, faith leaders and activists, to honor Bloody Sunday and the march from Selma to Montgomery.
We gathered in Selma to celebrate and honor the courage of ordinary Americans willing to face tear gas, billy clubs, and risk their lives to ensure equal treatment under the law.
The march from Selma to Montgomery helped change the course of history. They faced extreme opposition and their actions that day on Edmund Pettus bridge proved that non-violent change is possible.
Ten days after the march from Selma to Montgomery, President Lyndon Johnson sent to Congress the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a cornerstone of our democracy.
In the 50 years since Bloody Sunday, our nation has made significant progress. To deny this progress, as the President mentioned in his speech in Selma, is to rob us of our own agency, our own capacity, and what we can do to make America better.
As we pause to mark this important anniversary and reflect on its effect on history, we know that the battle for full voting rights wages on.
When the Supreme Court struck down the pre-clearance formula, states can change their election laws without prior federal approval–the ruling gutted the heart of the Voting Rights Act.
The Voting Rights Act pre-clearance requirement afforded millions of voters confidence that roadblocks will not be thrown in their way as they try to exercise their fundamental right to vote.
It provided voters with the knowledge that the federal government can be a backstop against oppressive laws and prevent voter discrimination before it happened.
Now voter suppression is once again rearing its ugly head in the form of registration restrictions, voter ID laws, decreased access to early voting and racially-motivated redistricting that is stopping people from their right to vote.
Now, I was born and raised in Texas and I vividly remember the days of Jim Crow, segregation, and poll taxes.
The tactics being used today may be more subtle; but they serve the same purpose: to prevent Americans from exercising their fundamental right to vote.
Mr. Speaker–Enough is enough.
As the heirs of the civil rights movement, we cannot allow these assaults to stand.
We must be defiant.
We must stand up to those that want to turn back the clock and restrict our right to vote. We have come too far to go back now.
Sadly, voting rights is not the only place that inequality exists.
More than 45 million Americans are still living in poverty. African Americans have a poverty rate that is nearly three times the poverty rate of white Americans.
The 10.4 percent unemployment rate among African Americans is nearly twice the national average.
Discrimination and racial bias remains endemic in our justice system.
We can start to address these issues this year–by working to restore the Voting Rights Act. One hundred members of Congress visited Selma to commemorate Bloody Sunday and as President Obama eloquently stated, we must go back to Washington and gather four hundred more.
We can restore this law by passing a bipartisan bill, H.R. 855, The Voting Rights Amendment Act, which I am a proud cosponsor.
This bill will help undo some of the damage done by the Supreme Court’s decision.
Just as Congress acted 50 years ago after the stirring events in Selma, Congress must act today to address the issues facing our nation.
Mr. Speaker–We cannot afford to backslide on the progress we have made.
We cannot afford to lose the prize that our forefathers and mothers fought, bled and died to obtain and preserve.
We must stand together–stronger than ever–to raise our voices, march in the streets, and cast our ballots to demand change.
I am reminded of Dr. King’s “Two Americas” speech on April 14th, 1967 at Stanford University, when he said:
Rep. Lee is the U.S. Representative for California’s 13th congressional district.