Patrick Leahy: “earlier this afternoon when I was not on the Senate floor, a few Republican Senators gave statements that reflected…”

“earlier this afternoon when I was not on the Senate floor, a few Republican Senators gave statements that reflected their individual views of what the legislation we are considering today will do to address the Supreme Court's interpretation of legislative intent in the Georgia v. Ashcroft and Reno v. Bossier Parish cases. While I am not fully informed of their positions, I certainly disagree with what I heard. In the Senate Judiciary Committee we received extensive testimony about these two provisions over the course of several hearings that informed our Committee vote yesterday. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a full explanation of the testimony we received that informed our vote yesterday and my understanding of the purpose and scope of these two provisions as an original and lead sponsor. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: Georgia v. Ashcroft Fix The first of these provisions is commonly referred to as the ``Georgia vs. Ashcroft fix.'' In the Judiciary Committee we received evidence that the Voting Rights Act had been significantly weakened by the Supreme Court's decision in Georgia v. Ashcroft because it narrowed the protections afforded by Section 5. Prior to the Ashcroft decision, an objection would be raised by the Department of Justice if the voting change made the position of minority voters worse off in terms of their ability to elect candidates of their choice.…”