On the recordMarch 18, 2015
I support the Democracy Restoration Act. This important legislation would restore a voice in our democracy for millions of Americans who cannot vote simply because they have a criminal conviction. I thank Senator Cardin for his leadership on this issue. I am honored to be an original cosponsor of this important criminal justice reform legislation. The right to vote for all is a principle that goes to the very heart of all democracy. Voting is a fundamental right because it is the right from which all other rights derive. Participation in the political process is about giving a voice to the voiceless. It is about who we are as a Nation and whether we want citizens that contribute to our society to have a say in who represents them in the Federal Government. The road to extend voting rights to all Americans has been long and not without bumps. Our country was founded at a time when African Americans were denied the right to vote. For over a hundred years, we silenced entire populations of Americans and deemed them unworthy of participating in the political process merely because of their race. During his famous Gettysburg Address, President Lincoln called for the country to have a ``new birth of freedom.'' After the Civil War, the States ratified the Civil War Amendments to the Constitution to honor President Lincoln's promise. One of those amendments, the Fifteenth Amendment, gave African Americans the right to vote.…
