Voting Rights Act Reauthorization

VOTING RIGHTS ACT REAUTHORIZATION -- (House of Representatives - July 12, 2006)

(Mr. BISHOP of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Voting Rights Act and the legislation before us this week which extends the Voting Rights Act for 25 years. It has been reauthorized and upheld for more than four decades. But several key provisions are set to expire next year if not reauthorized by Congress.

The Voting Rights Act is one of the most important civil rights initiatives ever enacted, protecting minority voters from discrimination and ensuring for all Americans the right to vote in a fair and equal voting process. We must protect this right. It is sacred. It stops practices such as those that allowed every African American to be expelled from the Georgia legislature between 1866 and 1900. It stops poll taxes, racial gerrymanders that dilute minority voting power. It stops moving polling places without notice. It stops hanging chads. It is the reason, after 100 years, that I was finally able to follow Jefferson Long as the first African American to represent my area of Georgia in Congress. It has empowered descendants of slaves like me to participate fully in America's political process. We should not, we must not, we cannot go back. We must renew the Voting Rights Act today.

http://thomas.loc.gov/