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