Photos: Wikimedia Commons\Fair Vote
On August 6th, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson (shown above) signed the 1965 Voting Rights Law which outlawed many of the then voter suppression tactics targeting African-Americans–that law has been systematically attacked by Republicans, especially, after Trump’s baseless big lie about election fraud.
Washington, D.C. – Friday, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Chairman Steve Cohen (D-TN) announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on Monday, August 16th at 10 A.M. EDT with U.S. Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Kristen M. Clarke to discuss potential legislative responses to ongoing threats to voting rights.
The announcement comes following the release of the Subcommittee on Elections of the Committee on House Administration’s staff report, “Voting in America: Ensuring Free and Fair Access to the Ballot.”
Chairman Nadler and Subcommittee Chairman Cohen issued the following joint statement:
“Fifty six years ago today, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act of 1965, perhaps our nation’s most important civil rights law. Many Americans, including our late beloved colleague John Lewis, marched, struggled, and shed their blood to secure this sacred right for all. Sadly, despite the progress that had been made under the VRA, our democracy faces a perilous moment, as the right to vote has been under constant threat in many states in recent years.
“Today’s staff report by the House Committee on Administration Subcommittee on Elections further confirms that since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Shelby County v. Holder and Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, states have only intensified their efforts to undermine minority voting rights. With new U.S. Census Bureau data expected to be released next week leading to redistricting efforts taking place across the country, it is essential that we invigorate the VRA to allow the Department of Justice and our courts to prevent discriminatory practices in the drawing of district lines as well as to stop the rash of discriminatory state laws being enacted. This report is critical to the Judiciary Committee’s effort to restore the law to its full vitality, and we thank Chairperson Zoe Lofgren and Subcommittee Chairman G.K. Butterfield for their steadfast leadership on it.
“Congress has the power—and indeed the obligation—to protect the right to vote for all Americans. The House Judiciary Committee will move expeditiously to complete its hearings establishing a record of the continuing current need for robust and enhanced voting rights protections and will be ready to bring the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to the House floor.”
The virtual hearing will stream live here.
