Voting Rights

Floor Speech

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Mr. VEASEY. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman, Congresswoman Sewell, for organizing this very important Special Order hour today to talk about something that is really timely, especially with elections coming up. I want to be able to stand here today with my colleagues to bring awareness to the injustice--the injustices really--that are oppressing the most vulnerable members of our democracy.

I want to start with some history from the 1960s, and then some more recent history. As you know, in 1965, the Voting Rights Act sought to ensure that voters would never again face intimidation or unnecessary obstacles in exercising their right to vote as American citizens. But in 2013, Shelby County v. Holder gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act and set in motion what many feared: the subjection of minorities, seniors, and low-income Americans to unfair, punitive barriers that make it hard for them to vote--make it hard for people to exercise their very basic right as an American citizen.

As a native of Texas representing the Dallas and Fort Worth area, I have seen firsthand the effects of these suppressive laws that have been put in place in 33 States since the Supreme Court issued in Shelby County v. Holder. Some of the tactics in Texas that were used--and you heard Representative Sewell talk about it a little bit earlier. If you have a license--a school ID from Texas A&M University or the University of Texas or Prairie View A&M or Texas Southern University, any of our State universities, these are the same IDs that students can use. Let's say they are on campus and they are doing something they are not supposed to do, they can use those IDs to identify themselves to law enforcement authorities on the campuses there; but if they were to try to come home and use that ID, they would be denied the right to vote. But, again, if you are the owner of a handgun and you have a concealed handgun license, you can use that particular ID to vote. It is almost unfair. You can see how everything is stacked against the everyday voters.

With the requirement that a photo ID be used to vote, some individuals without an ID had to travel great distances to get them or struggled to pay for the supporting documents they needed in order to get the ID to vote. You heard Representative Sewell talk about that a little bit earlier.

Let me give you an example of that. In Texas we have 254 counties. Everybody knows that Texas is a big State. Some of those counties don't even have driver's license centers or ID centers where people can get their voter ID cards or their driver's license or their State ID or the other documentation that is needed to be able to vote. So that is why I got involved as the lead plaintiff in Veasey v. Abbott, which was the voter ID case, to overturn the law.

Our case has been heard before three--literally three--Federal courts, including what is considered the most conservative appellate court in the entire country, which is the Fifth Circuit. In July 2016, the full Fifth Circuit ruled in favor of Texas voters. That ought to tell you something that the Fifth Circuit was even like, hey, this thing has some real, real problems.

That same month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit struck down North Carolina's restrictive voting laws, and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin invalidated portions of their voting law there that was designed to prevent individuals from casting their right to vote.

The courts have found what we have always known to be true, and that is that these restrictive voter ID laws intentionally discriminate against minority voters and disenfranchise eligible American voters.

These victories are a few of the major victories, but we have also had victories in non-Southern States. It is mentioned that it is the Southern States where a lot of these issues have historically been a problem, but we know that even outside of the South there have been issues--Ohio, Kansas, and Michigan--and so far the courts continue to rule in the favor of the voter. I hope they will continue to do so in the future.

But while we see these victories, we also continue to face challenges. Some of you recently have heard that Judge Ramos in the Texas case, who issued the interim voting rules in the Texas case, had to actually order the attorney general, the Governor, and the secretary of state to stop sending out misleading and confusing election materials to try to confuse people about the voter ID ruling.

That worries me a lot because what is that saying is going to happen to this upcoming election in November in 2016? Are we getting a sneak preview of some of the dirty tricks that may take place around the country?

The fact that a Federal judge issued these guidelines and State officials tried to send out misleading information from a Federal judge is scary. Those are dirty tricks that we have to watch out for in this November 2016 election.

We know that the attorney general, because he said so, is going to appeal this case to the Supreme Court. But until we see an end to barriers to voting and the distribution of misinformation to discourage eligible citizens from casting their ballots, we will not stop fighting. Every day, my colleagues and I, led by the Democratic Outreach and Engagement Task Force and the Congressional Voting Rights Caucus, will continue to fight to have these suppressive laws invalidated. Even in the face of lengthy court battles, we welcome the challenge because it means we have to protect the right to vote.

One of the things that I did to continue to shed light on this issue is I actually introduced a resolution last week to designate September as National Voting Rights Month. This year, Americans will cast their ballots in one of the most important general elections that this country has ever seen. The designation of September as National Voting Rights Month will serve to assist in spreading information and awareness about voter registration dates and voting dates, early voting, polling place locations, how to maintain voter rolls, and some of the suppressive tactics that are being used. We want to inform people about that as well because it would be an affront, Representative Sewell, to our predecessors to allow suppressive tactics to deny Americans the right that many have fought and died for.

That is why Congress must continue to lead the charge in restoring the right for all Americans to vote by fixing the Voting Rights Act and by encouraging participation in, again, what is our most sacred right as Americans, and that is the right to vote.

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