Congress Reaffirms Voting Rights Act
COLUMBUS , OH - Congresswoman Deborah Pryce (R-Columbus) today submitted the following editorial:
America is widely and rightfully celebrated for its unwavering commitment to freedom and liberty. Our constitution is the oldest document governing a nation on earth, and it was the first on the planet to codify into law many of the individual rights and limits on government that have guided and protected our nation and its citizens for more than two centuries.
As revolutionary as the United States Constitution was at the time of its adoption-- and remains to this day – for its reverence for the rights of the individual, it was not until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 before these rights were guaranteed and protected for all of our nation’s people. While the 15 th Amendment to the Constitution in 1870 granted African American men the right to vote, for the subsequent century, racist literacy tests and poll taxes thwarted their ability to exercise this right. The VRA, by contrast, fully utilized the powers of the federal government to enforce voter protections, and today is generally considered the most successful piece of civil rights legislation ever adopted by the United States Congress.
This past week, Congress reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to protecting the suffrage of all Americans by reauthorizing the Voting Rights Act. Our right to vote is fundamental to our democracy, and the Voting Rights Act is the sentinel protecting the voting rights of all Americans. Our ability to cast our ballot without coercion, intimidation, or hindrance is of unequaled importance and is the essence of the freedoms we celebrate as Americans.
Over the past 41 years, the Voting Rights Act has proved enormously successful in protecting the voting rights of minorities, but last week’s reauthorization should be celebrated by all races. As America espouses the virtues of democratic principles in the Middle East, and as we admonish totalitarian nations that oppress rights we consider divinely endowed, our reauthorization of the VRA demonstrates our esteem for and adherence to these democratic principles here at home.
The Voting Rights Act is as important in its symbolism as it is in its legal application. For so many Americans, the Act represents the triumphs of our most revered civil rights leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King and Reverend Hosea Williams, as well as such landmarks in the civil rights movement as the Selma to Montgomery marches and Bloody Sunday.
As a member of the House leadership, I was among a core group of legislators aggressively pushing for quick passage of the VRA, and consider its passage a cause for celebration for all Americans. I hope you will join me in ushering in another twenty-five years of protections guaranteeing and enforcing our fundamentally American right to vote.
