G. K. Butterfield: “Thank you very much, Congresswoman Kelly. Thank you for your leadership, and thank you for what you mean to the…”

“Thank you very much, Congresswoman Kelly. Thank you for your leadership, and thank you for what you mean to the Congressional Black Caucus. The Congressional Black Caucus is now the largest caucus in our history. We are very proud to announce that we have 46 members now in CBC, representing more than 30 million people from 23 States, in addition to the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands, so I am delighted that you have taken this responsibility each week, Ms. Kelly, to come to the floor and manage this time. Typically, Congressman Donald Payne would be joining Congresswoman Kelly tonight, but Mr. Payne is not able to come to the floor tonight to help with this Special Order due to, what I am told, is complications from foot surgery, so we wish Congressman Payne a very speedy recovery. Ms. Kelly, I wanted to particularly thank you for selecting this subject this evening. This is a very timely conversation that we must have in this Congress, and that is the whole subject of the Voting Rights Act. The topic that you have chosen, ``The Battle Wages On: Securing Equal Voting Rights in the United States,'' is so very appropriate; and, hopefully, in the next 2 or 3 minutes, I want to tell you why. Let me just start by explaining the whole voting rights story. Some of my colleagues may not fully appreciate it and understand that when we talk about voting rights, we just don't talk about 1965.…”