Bobby Scott: “there is no civil rights legislation more important or effective than the Voting Rights Act. The right to vote is the…”

“there is no civil rights legislation more important or effective than the Voting Rights Act. The right to vote is the very foundation of our democracy, and as the Supreme Court noted in 1964, other rights, even the most basic, are illusory if the right to vote is undermined. The Voting Rights Act has made that right a reality. In Virginia, my home State, because of all sorts of schemes and barriers, there were no African American State legislators or Federal legislators, not a single African American State or Federal judge in 1964. After four decades of the Voting Rights Act which prohibited those schemes and removed those barriers, we now have 18 legislators and over 40 judges serving in Virginia. We do not need to return to the days before 1965. We do need to extend the expiring provisions of the Voting Rights Act. We should support H.R. 9 without amendment. ____________________”