On the recordJuly 17, 2017
Let me first thank the gentleman from Texas for sponsoring this CBC Special Order hour. It is a great responsibility and a responsibility that he has done remarkably well in governing the time and the topics on which we speak. This is a timely topic, Mr. Speaker. In a single decision, the U.S. Supreme Court set ablaze decades of progress by overturning critical portions of the Voting Rights Act. Four years after Shelby County v. Holder, voter protections that many Americans rely on are again under assault. Following that decision, we saw an eruption of unjust voting laws. It is an unfortunate historical fact that, in the absence of Federal safeguards, some States will erect prejudicial barriers to voting. States previously under Federal overview were emboldened and, shortly after the ruling issued, blatantly added discriminatory rules that directly affected minority communities. Sadly, one of the most significant and imminent threats to accessing the polls comes directly from the administration. Since the inauguration, the Trump administration has withdrawn from longstanding legal challenges to discriminatory voter laws and created the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity that will investigate the President's wildly unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. These sorts of actions and rhetoric only reassure States that discriminatory voting laws will be tolerated and upheld in this administration.…
