Voting Rights Hall of Shame

Both Republicans and Democrats are giddy over the U.S. House of Representatives voting on July 13 to extend key sections of the Voting Rights Act on a vote of 390-33. There is an unseemly side of this story that your Congressperson may not want you to know. While only 33 members voted against what is known as the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act, more than three times as many voted against unsuccessful amendments that would have gutted the bill. So, don't let the vote on the final measure fool you. Check the links below to see how your Congressperson voted. If you are uncertain who represents you, go to the homepage of my Web site, www.georgecurry.com and click on the right side of the page to locate you Representative.

Here's how they voted on the bill and the four proposed amendments to neuter the Voting Rights extension:


The final bill (Extends key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, set to expire next year, for another 25 years):

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll374.xml


The Lynn Westmore (R-Ga.) Amendment (Would have tied up personnell in the Justice Department by requiring the Attorney General to make annual assessments of what jurisdictions should be covered under the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act. Additionally, it would shift the burden of proof for proving whether a community has stopped discriminating from that jurisdiction to the Justice Department.)

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll373.xml



The Charlie Norwood (R-Ga.) Amendment (Uses a different system to determine whether a state should be covered under the Act, relying on previous presidential voting figures as the yardstick. The measure would effectively repeal Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. Under this formula, using figures from the 1996, 2000 and 2004 elections, pratically all states would be exempted.)

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll370.xml


An Amendment by Reps. Steve King (Ia.), Candice Miller (Mich.), Ginny Brown-Waite (Fla.) and Spencer Bachus (Ala.), all Republicans. (Would repeal Section 203, the provision that requires certain jurisdictions with high concentrations of voters who have not mastered English be provided language assistance.)

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll372.xml


Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) Amendment (Would limit the reauthorization period to 10 years instead of 10.)

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2006/roll371.xml

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