the basic premise of Section 5 pre-clearance is that elected representatives are incompetent minors

The rights of citizens of these United States shall not be abridged or denied.

the Department of Justice has taken the position that Section 5 and indeed Section 2, as well, protects the ability to elect Democrats

you and I are both at this hearing. We are both elected officials in the State of Texas. We are both Hispanic.

Madam President, I rise today to discuss the deteriorating situation in Iraq. There has been considerable debate in recent days about what we want to achieve in that country and the importance of achieving so-called political…

Is it really your testimony that granting amnesty to some 800,000 people who came illegally as children had no effect in causing a dramatic increase in children being handed over to international cartels to be smuggled in here illegally?

We have to avoid practices and policies that operate as magnets for further illegal migration.

I myself am the son of an immigrant from Cuba, and I am a passionate advocate for legal immigration.

Mr. Secretary, my time is expiring, but with all respect, in my view that argument is a red herring.

This is a humanitarian crisis that we have a legal system in place that is failing to secure the border and that is incentivizing people crossing illegally.

We have a particular humanitarian crisis with respect to unaccompanied minors. That is a crisis that is the direct consequence of policies of the Obama administration.