Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2019
Floor Speech
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Ms. PELOSI. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding, Mr. Nadler, the distinguished chair of the Judiciary Committee. I thank him for his leadership in bringing this important opportunity for America to the floor of the House today.
I commend Congresswoman Terri Sewell for her tremendous leadership, the gentlewoman from Alabama, who knows this subject well, personally, geographically, and officially, now, as a leading member of the House of Representatives. I thank her for her leadership.
I thank Congresswoman Marcia Fudge for holding field hearings from Alabama to Arizona on this urgent issue of voting rights. That scope of Alabama to Arizona is not alphabetically a big range, but, geographically and experiencewise, it is.
And to Congressman John Lewis, the conscience of the Congress, what an honor it is for each and every one of us to serve with him, to call him colleague and, in many cases, to call him friend. He is a civil rights hero of the House, whose Voter Empowerment Act was the backbone of H.R. 1, the For the People Act.
Because there is some resistance on the side of the aisle here to our reducing the role of dark money in politics, which is a significant part of H.R. 1, we pulled out H.R. 4 as its own vehicle on the floor, and I thank all the House Democrats who came to Congress committed to restoring the right to the ballot, reflected in our naming of this legislation, H.R. 4, one of our top priorities.
And I say Democrats, but it saddens me to hear the distinguished ranking member's comments about this legislation and urging a ``no'' vote on the Republican side, because I was leader when we passed the Voting Rights Act that the Court sent us back to the drawing board on.
At that time, we had around 400 votes in the House of Representatives, upwards of 395, 400 votes, a completely bipartisan vote to pass that bill; and it was unanimous in the United States Senate, not partisan in any way. And we have come to a place where the Court said you need to do this or thus.
We followed Justice Roberts' guidance; and now, with the improvements insisted upon by Justice Roberts, the Republicans have gone from being part of a nearly 400-vote majority on the bill to, hopefully, not being unanimously against it, but we will see.
Mr. Speaker, nearly 55 years ago, President Lyndon Johnson came to the House of Representatives. He came on the House floor to urge passage of the Voting Rights Act ``for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy.''
He declared: ``This was the first nation in the history of the world to be founded with a purpose. . . . `All men are created equal.'
``Those are not just clever words. . . . In their name, Americans have fought and died for two centuries. . . . Those words are a promise to every citizen that he shall share in the dignity of man.''
He continued: ``Our fathers believed that if this noble view of the rights of man was to flourish, it must be rooted in democracy . . . the right to choose your own leaders. The history of this country, in large measure, is the history of the expansion of that right to all of our people.''
Yet, a half century later, the constitutional right of all Americans to determine their leaders and the destiny of our democracy is under great assault from a brazen, nationwide voter suppression campaign.
Since the Shelby v. Holder decision, 23 States--maybe more--have enacted voter suppression laws, including voter purges, strict ID requirements, poll closures, and vote intimidation, denying millions their voices by their vote.
The record compiled by the committees shows that the counties with the worst histories of voter suppression doubled down on their discrimination during this time, purging 17 million voters from the rolls between 2016 and 2018 alone, primarily people of color.
Today, the House is honoring our Nation's sacred pledge--all are created equal--by passing H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advancement Act.
This bill restores the Voting Rights Act's strength to combat the clear resurgence of voter discrimination unleashed by Shelby by updating the data determining which States and practices are covered by the law. No longer will cynical politicians and States with dark histories of discrimination have a green light to freely continue their systematic suppression campaign.
When President Johnson spoke on this floor, he said: ``There must be no delay, no hesitation, and no compromise with our purpose. . . . We have already waited a hundred years and more, and the time for waiting is gone.''
Indeed, it took the courage and the ultimate sacrifice of countless Americans, including our own John Lewis, to secure the passage of the Voting Rights Act. Honoring and strengthening that legacy is essential to our democracy. We want to be sure that everyone who is eligible to vote can vote and that that person's vote is counted as cast.
Today, too, the time for waiting is gone. We must pass this bill, which is a vote for civil rights, liberty, and justice for all.
I thank Mr. Nadler, Marcia Fudge, and Terri Sewell, the author of this legislation, which she introduced now to the third Congress, for giving us the privilege to be part of honoring the pledge of our Founders: All are created equal.
Mr. Speaker, I urge an ``aye'' vote on the bill.
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