83S10072 LUC-D
By: Miles H.C.R. No. 4
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The United States Congress passed the Voting Rights
Act on August 6, 1965, and more than four decades later, this
legislation continues to play a vital role in preventing and
addressing real threats to a fundamental right of every American;
and
WHEREAS, One of the most effective civil rights laws in
history, the Voting Rights Act was designed to enforce rights that
had been granted to minority voters nearly a century earlier by the
Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution;
although these amendments had prohibited racial discrimination in
voting, communities of color continued to face disenfranchisement
from discriminatory state voting laws; and
WHEREAS, The Voting Rights Act immediately invalidated the
worst Jim Crow laws in the South and greatly increased minority
participation in the electoral process; moreover, the Act opened
the way for the election of more officials from minority
backgrounds; in the mid-1960s, there were only about 70 African
American elected officials in the South, and by the turn of the 21st
century, there were some 5,000; and
WHEREAS, In recent years, the Voting Rights Act has helped
Latinos make similar gains; the number of Latinos serving in
elected office rose from about 3,700 in 1996 to more than 5,800 in
2011; and
WHEREAS, Most provisions in the Voting Rights Act are
permanent, notably the portions that guarantee that no one may be
denied the right to vote because of his or her race or color; some
enforcement-related provisions require periodic reauthorization,
however, and over the years, Congress has repeatedly extended them
because many state and local governments have continued to erect
barriers to minority political participation; these renewals were
endorsed by Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and George H. W. Bush,
and most recently, President George W. Bush, who signed the Voting
Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006; that
legislation passed with overwhelming, bipartisan support after
house and senate hearings exhaustively examined a new generation of
tactics having discriminatory impact, including at-large
elections, annexations, last-minute polling place relocations, and
redistricting; and
WHEREAS, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued a call for a
strong voting rights law, and the Voting Rights Act was enacted
during his presidency; recognizing and upholding the legacy of this
great Texan will promote equality for all citizens; and
WHEREAS, In the past, the Supreme Court has consistently
upheld the authority of Congress over the VRA, including Section 5;
settled case law supports our historic reliance on Congress to
develop remedies for discrimination and to create uniform federal
laws that ensure each citizen can enter the voting booth with the
certainty that his or her vote will be accurately and fairly
counted; and
WHEREAS, Sadly, attempts at voter suppression have not ended,
as Congress recognized in 2006 when it renewed the landmark Voting
Rights Act for another 25 years; if the United States is to continue
to serve as a beacon of democracy in the world, we cannot allow the
discriminatory practices of the past to resurface; now, therefore,
be it
RESOLVED, That the 83rd Legislature of the State of Texas,
1st Called Session, hereby express its support for the Voting
Rights Act and urge the United States Congress to protect every
citizen's right to participate in the political process by making
permanent the provisions of Section 5 of that legislation; and, be
it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
Representatives of the United States Congress, to the United States
Supreme Court, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to
Congress with the request that this resolution be officially
entered in the Congressional Record.