Vicente Gonzalez: “Thank you for recognizing me, and I thank the Democratic leader, Ms. Pelosi, for giving me this time. I thank my…”

“Thank you for recognizing me, and I thank the Democratic leader, Ms. Pelosi, for giving me this time. I thank my colleagues for listening and for joining me in a few minutes. But I am also very sorry to be here in a certain respect. I'm sorry because I stand here tonight to talk about threats to the right of American citizens in States across this great country to go to the polls and cast a ballot in our elections. The single most fundamental aspect of our democracy--or any democracy--is the right to vote, and that right is under attack. Mr. Speaker, there is no right mentioned more often in the Constitution than the right to vote. In the past 207 years we have amended the Constitution 15 times. Seven of those amendments--almost half of the amendments--over the last two centuries are about protecting, in the words of the 14th Amendment, the right to vote. Minorities, women, adults over 18 years of age, poor citizens, and of course citizens of our Nation's Capital--at least if only for the Presidential election--all of these groups' right to vote has been enshrined in our Constitution. That's why it is so troubling to see dozens of States passing laws that will make it harder for citizens of the United States to vote.…”