Debbie Lesko: “And I thank Representative Raskin for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. Madam Speaker, the right to vote is of…”

“And I thank Representative Raskin for yielding me the customary 30 minutes. Madam Speaker, the right to vote is of paramount importance in our Republic. We all agree on that. Prohibitions against discriminatory barriers to the right to vote have been grounded in Federal law since the Civil War and, more recently, through the Voting Rights Act of 1965. We all agree: Discrimination should have no place in our voting system. However, the majority would have us believe that the Voting Rights Act does not prevent any of this and would rather pass this partisan legislation for a Federal takeover of elections. I anticipate that the 2013 Supreme Court case Shelby County v. Holder will be brought up many times today, but I would like to point out to my Democratic colleagues that, in that decision, the Supreme Court only struck down one outdated provision of the Voting Rights Act. This provision, section 4(b), was struck down because it was outdated as it had not been updated since 1975, and it violated principles of equal State sovereignty and federalism. H.R. 4 is, quite simply, unconstitutional, as the Supreme Court had held that Federal control over local elections is allowed only when there is proof of discriminatory treatment in voting. Further, I believe it is important to point out that other very important provisions of the Voting Rights Act remain in place, including section 2 and section 3.…”