John Conyers: “although the focus of the debate surrounding this legislation has been on the use of foreign languages by immigrants, in…”

“although the focus of the debate surrounding this legislation has been on the use of foreign languages by immigrants, in reality, the core of the issue concerning minority language provisions of the Voting Rights Act is the constitutional and civil rights of American citizens--both native born as well as naturalized--whose first language is not English. The minority language assistance provisions of the Voting Rights Act have been signed into law and supported by President Ford, Reagan and Bush, as well as Presidents Clinton and Carter. During their most recent reauthorization in 1992, Senator Hatch said that the provisions are an ``integral part of our government's assurance that Americans do have . . . access'' to the ballot box. Since the minority language assistance provisions of the Voting Rights Act was first adopted, they have provided a catalyst for increase voter participation in language minority populations. From 1980 to 1990, Latino voter population increased by five times the rate of the rest of the Nation, and the number of Latinos registered to vote increased by approximately 500,000 between 1990-92. Participation statistics for Native Americans also indicate an increase in turnout as a result of minority language voting assistance. Recent studies confirm that nearly three-fourths of Spanish speaking American citizens would be less likely to vote if minority language assistance were not available.”