Remarks of U.S. Senator Russ Feingold
On the Renewal of the Voting Rights Act
April 27, 2006
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am pleased to be here today for this first
hearing on the renewal of the Voting Rights Act.
First, I’d like to welcome Chairman Sensenbrenner and Ranking
Member Conyers and thank them for being here. Chairman Sensenbrenner,
your leadership on this issue has been heartening. You came to this
issue in 1982 admittedly as a skeptic. Yet you approached the issue
with an open mind, and ultimately came away with the impression that,
as you have said, “the ingenuity of the human mind is limitless
when it comes to devising ways to rig elections or to favor certain
candidates.” In light of the evidence presented during that reauthorization
process, you worked tirelessly to ensure the Act’s reauthorization.
We were fortunate to have you as a champion of the Act at that time,
and we are fortunate to have you here again today as Chairman.
I also welcome my colleague and friend, Representative Conyers. Few
in this Congress have done more to advance civil rights than Mr. Conyers.
He and I have worked closely on many legislative issues, including racial
profiling, bankruptcy, and the integrity of our electoral process. I’m
very glad you could be with us here today.
The Voting Rights Act has been hailed as the most important piece of
federal legislation in our nation's history. Not just the most important
piece of civil rights legislation, but the most important piece of legislation
ever passed. This may well be true: it is from our political rights,
our rights of citizenship, that all other freedoms flow. Without a meaningful
chance to vote, there can be no equality before the law, no equal access
to justice, no equal opportunity in the workplace or to share in the
benefits and burdens of citizenship.
In 1965, the year that the Voting Rights Act first passed, our nation
was failing to fulfill one of its most fundamental promises: representation
for all. At that time, African Americans were excluded from almost all
public offices in many areas of the South, and discriminatory election
practices at the state level were having a devastating effect on the
ability of minorities to exercise their right to vote. In response to
the horrific events in Selma, Alabama and after years of effort in Congress
and around the country, on August 6, 1965, the Voting Rights Act became
law.
Certainly, much has changed since then. The Voting Rights Act has allowed
millions of minority voters to exercise their constitutional rights
to participate fully in elections. There are a record number of African
American and Hispanic members serving in Congress today, and the number
of minorities serving in other levels of government has increased dramatically
as well. Furthermore, the Act has been amended to cover non-English
speaking minorities such as Latinos, Asian Americans and Native Americans,
Alaskan Natives, and other minority groups, and has been used to examine
and challenge new election formats that dilute minority votes.
Unfortunately, we have much more work to do. As the record that our
witnesses present helps to illuminate, in each election cycle, many
Americans are still disenfranchised by discriminatory redistricting
plans, voter intimidation tactics, long lines at polling places, inadequate
numbers of voting machines, and lifetime restrictions on voting rights
for ex-felons. In 2007, key elements of the Voting Rights Act, including
the federal pre-clearance requirement, provisions related to federal
examiners and observers, and certain language assistance provisions,
are due to expire.
Voters should not be put in the position of having to refight the battles
won in the civil rights struggle. We should be building on the success
of the Voting Rights Act, not turning back the clock in the face of
ongoing threats to our election system. I hope today’s hearing
will be the first step in that process in the Senate, and I look forward
to working with supporters of the Voting Rights Act on both sides of
the aisle to reauthorize the Act this year and make sure we establish
the legislative record needed to support it in court.
I want to thank you again, Mr. Chairman, for holding this important
hearing, and thank our witnesses from across the Capitol for their work
on this issue and for joining us today.
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