Fighting Back Against Dismantling of Voting Rights
Floor Speech
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Mr. KHANNA. Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Jackson for his leadership and vision on this 250th anniversary year of our country. He spoke out when there was silence in this body, when our leadership was distracted, and when the country was consumed by Donald Trump's diversions.
The gentleman spoke out and said that there was a case in the Supreme Court that is gutting the Voting Rights Act and that will take away from Black Americans the right to freely choose their Representatives. We were all complacent while the gentleman was sounding the alarm.
My friend knew, as the son of the great Reverend Jackson and as someone who has spent his entire life fighting for civil rights, he knew the dangers when powerful people try to strip away civil rights and freedoms from Black Americans.
Unfortunately, Congressman Jackson was right. A Supreme Court decision has been the fastest rollback of Black freedom and Black political rights since Rutherford Hayes ended Reconstruction.
Now I read that they want to go after districts with representation of majority Black Americans, majority Asian Americans, I don't believe they should go after my district just because it happens to be a majority Asian-American district with people of all backgrounds having a community of interest. I don't think they should be splitting up Congressman Jackson's district just to give the Democrats a little bit more of a partisan advantage, to take away a community that has struggled for freedom and civil rights for decades and split that up and not allow them to freely choose who their Representative is. That is what is going on in this country, and it is wrong.
Tonight, as someone who is the grandson of a freedom fighter who spent 4 years in jail with Gandhi and as someone whose parents sacrificed everything they had so that I could have a chance, I stand in solidarity with my friend to say that we have come too far to roll back.
I stand both for my friend's voting rights amendment and affirmative amendment next week which he will be introducing and for his standing up for voting rights in majority-minority districts.
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