Observes and celebrates the 40th anniversary of the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Reaffirms the Senate's commitment to advancing the legacy of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to ensure the continued effectiveness of the Act in protecting the voting rights of all citizens of the United States.
Encourages the people of the United States to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 232 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
109th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 232
Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the enactment of the Voting Rights
Act of 1965 and reaffirming the commitment of the Senate to ensuring
the continued effectiveness of the Act in protecting the voting rights
of all citizens of the United States.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
July 29, 2005
Mr. Kennedy (for himself, Mr. Reid, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Feingold, Mr.
Durbin, Mr. Kohl, Mr. Jeffords, Mr. Lautenberg, Mr. Biden, Mr. Levin,
Ms. Mikulski, Ms. Landrieu, Mr. Obama, Mr. Schumer, Mr. Kerry, and Mr.
Specter) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the enactment of the Voting Rights
Act of 1965 and reaffirming the commitment of the Senate to ensuring
the continued effectiveness of the Act in protecting the voting rights
of all citizens of the United States.
Whereas brave people in the United States, known and unknown, of different
races, ethnicities, and religions, risked their lives to stand for
political equality and against racial discrimination in a quest
culminating in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965;
Whereas numerous individuals paid the ultimate price in pursuit of political
equality, while demanding that the United States enforce the guarantees
enshrined in the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution;
Whereas, on March 7, 1965, a day that would come to be known as ``Bloody
Sunday'', the historic struggle for equal voting rights led nonviolent
civil rights marchers to gather on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma,
Alabama where the bravery of such individuals was tested by a brutal
response from State and local authorities, which in turn sent a clarion
call to the people of the United States that the fulfillment of
democratic ideals could no longer be denied;
Whereas 8 days after Bloody Sunday, President Lyndon B. Johnson called for a
comprehensive and effective voting rights bill as a necessary response
by Congress and the President to the interference and violence, in
violation of the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution,
encountered by African-American citizens when attempting to protect and
exercise the right to vote;
Whereas a bipartisan Congress approved the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and, on
August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed this landmark
legislation into law;
Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 stands as a tribute to the heroism of
countless individuals and enactment of the Act was one of the most
important civil rights victories in the history of the United States,
enabling political empowerment and voter enfranchisement for all
citizens of the United States;
Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 effectuates the permanent guarantee of the
15th amendment that ``the right of citizens of the United States to vote
shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on
account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude'';
Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was amended in 1975 to facilitate equal
political opportunity for language-minority citizens and was amended in
1982 to protect the rights of voters with disabilities;
Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has helped advance the true spirit of
democracy in the United States by encouraging political participation by
all citizens and ensuring for voters the ability to elect
representatives in Federal, State, and local governments;
Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has increased voter registration among
racial, ethnic, and language minorities, as well as enhanced the ability
of citizens in those minority groups to participate in the political
process and to elect minority representatives to public office,
resulting in 81 African-American, Latino, Asian, and Native American
Members of Congress and thousands of minority State and local officials
across the United States;
Whereas despite the noteworthy progress from 40 years of enforcement of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965, voter inequities, disparities, and obstacles
still remain for far too many minority voters and serve to demonstrate
the ongoing importance of the Voting Rights Act of 1965;
Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 provides extensive voter protections, such
as equipping voters with the means to challenge election laws that
result in a denial or abridgement of voting rights on account of race,
color, or language minority status (in section 2 of such Act),
eliminating literacy tests nationwide (in section 201 of such Act),
requiring Federal approval before jurisdictions with a history of
practices that restrict minority voting rights may implement changes in
voting practices and procedures (in section 5 of such Act), providing
the Department of Justice with the authority to appoint Federal election
monitors and observers to ensure that elections are conducted free from
discrimination and intimidation (in sections 6 through 9 of such Act),
and mandating language assistance and translated voting materials in
jurisdictions with substantial concentrations of language minorities (in
section 203 of such Act);
Whereas several of these provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 will expire
in August 2007 unless Congress acts to preserve and reauthorize them;
Whereas it is vital to democracy in the United States, and to the efforts of the
United States to promote democracy abroad, that the provisions of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 are fully effective to prevent discrimination
and dilution of the equal rights of minority voters;
Whereas, in 2005, the year marking the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act
of 1965, people in the United States must applaud the substantial
progress that has been made in protecting the right to vote, but also
continue efforts to ensure fairness and equal access to the political
process in order to protect the rights of every citizen of the United
States; and
Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has been widely hailed as the single most
important civil rights law passed in the history of the United States:
Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) observes and celebrates the 40th anniversary of the
enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965;
(2) reaffirms its commitment to advancing the legacy of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 to ensure the continued effectiveness
of the Act in protecting the voting rights of all citizens of
the United States; and
(3) encourages the people of the United States to celebrate
the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
<all>
Introduced in Senate
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S9541)
Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text of measure as introduced: CR S9541)
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