The Fundamental Right to Vote
Floor Speech
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Mr. COHEN. Thank you, Ms. Lee. I appreciate your yielding, and I appreciate Congresswoman Fudge for bringing this issue to the floor.
We previously heard from other Congresspeople and particularly the distinguished Congressman John Lewis, who was a civil rights hero in the 60s and risked his life, as others did, and gave their lives for the right to vote.
We are experiencing today, after International Nelson Mandela Day, yesterday was Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday. Next month we'll dedicate a memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King on the Mall. When you think about Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela and John Lewis, you've got to think about voting rights and how far the Nation and the world have come in the last 45 years and how long it took to get there.
And to think that there are impediments being placed in the way of people to vote, whether intentional or not, I believe those impediments are being placed there intentionally to dissuade African Americans and Democratic-leaning groups from voting in the 2012 election, Rovian tactics to stop President Obama from being re-elected and from the public to pick Democratic Representatives to switch the priorities of this House to those that would be more reflective of the middle class and people who are yearning for opportunity.
But whether they're intentional or not, if they have an effect that is harmful to voting rights, just like other laws, if they have an effect in practice, they are just as harmful and just as wrong as if they were intended. And there is no question that these types of impediments to require people to get voter IDs, when 25 percent of African Americans in this country don't have that type of ID and 8 percent of Caucasians are in the same limitation of not having that type of ID, it's obvious that African Americans and students and others are the ones that are designed to be targeted by these laws.
In my State of Tennessee that passed such a law, to get a photo ID is not easy. I went myself to get a driver's license with a photo ID. It took 1 hour and 20 minutes, constantly standing in line, no place to sit. It was not easy and people will not be able to do it. It will be an impediment to them and limit their opportunity to vote. It's wrong.
I would like to thank Ms. Lee and Congresswoman Fudge for bringing this to the American public's attention.
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