U.S. Congressman Melvin L. Watt
		Serving North Carolina's 12th District
	2236 Rayburn House Office Building
	Washington, DC 20515-3312

Floor Statement of Rep. Melvin L. Watt (N.C)

H.R. 9, the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King
Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006

WASHINGTON, DC—Congressman Melvin Watt (D-NC) delivered the following remarks during today's House floor debate on H.R. 9, legislation that would extend the Voting Rights Act for 25 years: 

 “I rise today in unwavering support of H.R. 9.  This bill is the product of long-term, thoughtful, and thorough bipartisan deliberations that carefully weighed the competing concerns and considerations that have engulfed debate on the Voting Rights Act since its inception.  The Act has been extended on four occasions (1970, 1975, 1982, 1992), making it arguably the most carefully reviewed civil rights measure in our Nation’s history.  H.R. 9 continues that practice of careful review, accompanied by extensive record evidence in support of its provisions.  I am proud to have been part of the bipartisan coalition that crafted this legislation and believe that it strengthens the very foundation of our democracy.  

“H.R. 9 restores the Voting Rights Act to its original intent to secure and protect the rights of minority citizens to participate equally at the ballot box.   The bill bars voting changes that have the “purpose” of discriminating against minority citizens and it restores the ability of minority communities to elect candidates who share their values and represent their interest as originally intended by Congress.

“There are those who argue that the Voting Rights Act has outlived its usefulness, that it is outdated, and that it unfairly punishes covered jurisdictions for past sins.  Yet I stand here as living proof of both the effectiveness of and continuing need for the Voting Rights Act.  I stand here on the shoulders and in the aftermath and history of George H. White who, as one of the last African American remaining in Congress after Reconstruction, stated, on January 29, 1901 on the floor of the House, “This Mr. Chairman, is perhaps the negroes’ temporary farewell to the American Congress; but let me say, Phoenix-like he will rise up some day and come again.”  George White’s statement wasn’t made in a vacuum.  He noted that in Halifax, North Carolina in the election in which he had been defeated that:  “the registered Republican vote was 345, and the total registered vote of the township was 539, but when the count was announced it stood 900 Democrats to 41 Republicans, or 492 more Democratic votes counted than were registered votes in the township.”  When George White said his temporary farewell, he likely did not think it would be so long.   But the Voting Rights Act had been in effect just shy of 30 years when, in 1992, I and my former colleague Eva Clayton, became the first African Americans elected to Congress from the State of North Carolina since Rep. George White was unfairly defeated in 1901.

“Put plainly, nearly three decades elapsed after the passage of the Voting Rights Act before the impact of the Voting Rights Act became real in North Carolina.  We should be clear.   Although the successes of the Voting Rights Act have been substantial, they have not been fast and furious.  Rather, the successes have been gradual and of recent origin.  Now it not the time to jettison the expiring provisions that have been instrumental to the success we applaud today.

“In a Nation such as ours, we should want and encourage more Americans to vote, not fewer.  The Voting Rights Act and the renewal and restoration contained in H.R. 9, facilitate that goal.  By breaking down entrenched barriers to voter equity, this bill invites, inspires, and protects racial and language minority citizens’ full and equal participation in the governance of our Nation.   We must not fear that participation, we must embrace and celebrate that participation.

“Upon the introduction of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, President Lyndon

Johnson noted that the Voting Rights Act is like no other piece of civil rights legislation because ‘[e]very American citizen must have an equal right to vote.’ ‘About this,’ he said ‘there can and should be no argument.’  Make no mistake, voting is democracy’s most fundamental right.  Undermining the right to vote is a fundamental wrong, one that must be eliminated.  Mr. Chairman, a Congress with far fewer African Americans, Latinos and Asian Americans passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 because the right to vote had been denied too long.  Congress made a moral decision that it was the right thing to do for our democracy.   It is time to reaffirm that decision.  The Voting Rights Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006 merits passage  because an extensive record documents that the work of assuring that every citizen has the right to vote is still incomplete. 

“I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 9, without amendment.”

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