Democracy in Crisis

Floor Speech

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Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, it is once again an honor and a privilege to stand on the floor of the House of Representatives to help anchor the Congressional Black Caucus' Special Order hour, this hour of power, where, for the next 60 minutes, members of the Congressional Black Caucus have the opportunity to speak directly to the American people on an issue of great significance.

Today's Special Order hour topic is Democracy in Crisis: The Reckless, Republican Assault on the Right to Vote in America.

It is with great dismay that many of us come to the House floor today to speak to an issue of significance to the American people and our democracy.

There is nothing more sacred to the integrity of the democratic process than the right to vote. There are people throughout the years who died trying to secure the ability to participate in the franchise to help execute upon that great American promise of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, to vote for those individuals who would represent them at the city, State or Federal level, regardless of race or religion, ethnicity, immigration status.

While we undeniably have made tremendous progress in America, clearly there has been an effort by some, unfortunately, led, in part, by people on the other side of the aisle, to stop something so fundamentally American as the unfettered right to participate in our democracy by voting.

Today we are going to explore some of the history connected to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, widely regarded as one of the most significant pieces of legislation ever enacted by this august body.

Of course, we know that, in 2013, in the Shelby County v. Holder decision, the Supreme Court effectively gutted section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, widely known as the preclearance provision, in a manner that has adversely impacted the ability of voting rights advocates and others to protect the ability of people to participate without obstacle or obstruction.

It is my honor, as one of the anchors of the Congressional Black Caucus Special Order, to join in that responsibility with my coanchor, who, from the moment which she arrived in the Congress, has been a tremendous force for the district that she represents, a voice for the voiceless, someone who is both fierce in her beliefs, but willing to reach out to others across the aisle in order to get things done on behalf of the American people.

It is now my honor and my privilege to yield to my distinguished colleague from Ohio, Representative Joyce Beatty.

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Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentlewoman for making several extremely important observations about the urgency of restoring the Voting Rights Act, of Congress voting up or down.

All we are asking for is for Members of this House to act on bipartisan legislation that has been introduced in this Congress that would respond to the Supreme Court's decision, adopt a new coverage formula, and allow us to move forward in advance of this consequential Presidential election with a system that we can all be confident in will fairly allow everyone who wants to vote the opportunity to vote.

Mr. Speaker, it is now my honor and my privilege to yield to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Butterfield), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, someone who had a distinguished record prior to his service in the House as a jurist on the bench as a civil rights lawyer in North Carolina and has continued his fight here on the floor of the House of Representatives for the last 10 years on behalf of fairness, justice, and equality, particularly in his capacity as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus.

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Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus for his eloquent words and for explaining the practical realities of the Supreme Court's decision to strike down the coverage formula and effectively invalidate section 5 and the implications that that has had on people all across the country, in North Carolina and beyond.

I also note that the Voting Rights Act in section 5 and the coverage formula in section 4, upon passage in 1965, didn't just impact States in the South. There are five counties in New York City that constitute the Big Apple, and three of those counties in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn, were covered by section 5.

We recognize that there had been challenges all across the country with respect to the right to vote, and many of us, even beyond the South, have now lost that critical protection. That is why it is time for Congress to act.

I thank the chairman for his continued leadership.

It is now my honor to yield to the distinguished gentlewoman from the great State of Alabama (Ms. Sewell). She has been a tremendous proponent of the right to vote. We were all in awe of her leadership last year when we were down in Selma, Alabama, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and are thankful for all that she continues to do to uphold that great American tradition that sprang forth from that small city down in Alabama where the distinguished gentlewoman hails from. She currently is a sponsor--the lead sponsor-- of the Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would fix the problem that the Supreme Court created.

It is now my honor to yield to Representative Terri Sewell.

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Mr. JEFFRIES. Isn't it the case that a disproportionately high number of those DMV offices that the State of Alabama just happened to decide to close were in predominantly African American parts of the State of Alabama?

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Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, I thank the distinguished gentlewoman from Alabama, my good friend, Terri Sewell, for a very compelling, comprehensive, and complete analysis of the situation that we find ourselves in in the practical consequences of the Supreme Court's decision. And the fact that there are people all across this country, in Alabama, and in other parts of this great Republic, who are determined to elevate themselves by suppressing the ability of others to participate in the Democratic process, that is a shame, it is a stain on our democracy, and it is time for this Congress to act.

He has been a tremendous leader in this area. A great Member of the House of Representatives.

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Mr. JEFFRIES. Isn't it a fact that the case as it relates to that particular ID law in Texas, that individuals are able to vote if they have a gun license identification card, but are not able to vote under that draconian Texas law with a college ID?

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Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank my good friend for his leadership on this very important issue and for the steps that he has taken both here in Congress, with the initiation of the Voting Rights Caucus, as well as down in Texas as the lead plaintiff in the Veasey v. Abbott lawsuit to challenge the voter ID requirements--the draconian requirements--that have been imposed by the State of Texas.

It should shock the conscience of every American that a State would impose a restriction that allows licensed gun owners to vote who disproportionately happen to be of a certain demographic--white male-- but would deny the legitimacy of IDs that the State of Texas itself issues.

Texas A&M, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Houston, and other institutions are all public universities, and these individuals--these students--pay tuition to go to these public universities, and, in response, they are issued identification vehicles, identification cards, but the State of Texas has seen fit to say that that is not valid in order to vote.

I think that one example--and we have heard several others--basically exposes the fact that the movement to impose voter identification requirements is fraud in itself. It is a sham.

The whole argument behind it is that: We are trying to protect the integrity of the voting system. But here is the problem: you are protecting the integrity of the voting system by imposing a solution in search of a problem because none of these individuals in any of these States has been able to produce a scintilla of evidence of fraud.

In fact, there are studies that have shown that there have been over a billion instances of Americans exercising their right to vote without any evidence of misrepresentation--over a billion times. The number of instances of questionable voting is less than 50; yet, in State after State, we see voter identification laws being imposed on the people.

It is not designed to protect the integrity of anything. It is designed to protect certain individuals and maintain their power in the face of troubling demographic changes that are occurring in America. Let's call it like it is.

Let me ask the Chair how much time we have remaining in this Special Order.

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Mr. JEFFRIES. Mr. Speaker, let me now yield to someone who has been a tremendous champion from the great State of Texas in representing her people in Houston and is a phenomenal member of the Judiciary Committee, Representative Sheila Jackson Lee.

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Mr. JEFFRIES. I thank the distinguished gentlewoman.

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