Sheila Jackson Lee: “Thank you for your courtesies. And I begin with a clarion call. The Speaker wears many hats, and we have been in…”

“Thank you for your courtesies. And I begin with a clarion call. The Speaker wears many hats, and we have been in meetings where we have focused our legislative prowess, legislative questions, on voting rights. So, I think it is appropriate to begin today to say that a crisis is pending. I am stunned by this decision. I am aghast. I will not use the word ``enraged'' because action requires a calm and contemplative mind. Today, the Supreme Court upheld voting restrictions. They might have written it and said they upheld voting laws. They upheld voting restrictions in Arizona and signaled that challenges in new State laws making it harder to vote--my God, I am going to say that on this floor--making it harder to vote in spite of the constitutional privilege that is ensconced in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments that generates into the States the dignity of humanity, that citizens' birthright is the right to be precise in your desires of your representation. And then, it signaled in this article that challenges to new State laws making it harder to vote would have a hostile reception from a majority of the Justices. The vote was just as we expected. All the Court-packing--all the Court-packing--has borne fruit. Forgive me.…”