The Continuing Role of Women in the Voting Rights Movement

Floor Speech

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Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, today, in honor of Restoration Tuesday and March being Women's History month; I rise to acknowledge the role of women in the continuing battle for protecting our constitutional right to vote. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was only made possible because of the brave men and women who marched,--and were willing to die for voting equality as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday. Moreover, the narrative of the battle for voting rights in America is incomplete without the story of the strong contributions of the women who helped to advance these efforts. Nearly a decade has passed since Congress reauthorized the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in July 2006. This reauthorization not only continued to guarantee protections against modern day voting barriers, it elevated three mothers of the civil rights movement in its title: Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King. Honoring these great women who fought for equality and justice, this reauthorization stamped a day in time where both parties were able to come together and show overwhelming support for the most essential right on which this great democracy was founded, the right to vote. However, when the Supreme Court struck down Section 4 pre-clearance and federal protection for vulnerable communities in 2013, a number of states, including Alabama, passed restrictive laws designed to suppress the vote. It is imperative that we remain ever vigilant in upholding the legacy, not only of the historic women for which the reauthorization of the Act was named, but of the three women who sat on the Supreme Court bench and gave dissenting opinions following the tragic Section 4 strike down. Whether protesting from the streets or the Supreme Court bench, women have long played a vital role in the movement for voting rights in America's history. As we celebrate the rich history of women in politics during Women's History Month, we honor the conviction and determination of women like Susan B. Anthony and Amelia Boynton Robinson who fought relentlessly for equality for the ultimate benefit of our country as a whole. When women succeed, America succeeds and Congress should honor the fight and sacrifice by passing the Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2016. Fannie Lou Hamer is famous for stating what so many were feeling then and still feel now when she said--``I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.'' Like the brave women of our past, we all need to be sick and tired of injustice and inequality. On this Restoration Tuesday, we honor the women who championed the cause of protection of our sacred and fundamental right to the polls.

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