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House Votes to Renew Voting Rights Act

By TChris, Section Elections
Posted on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 09:21:23 AM EST
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by TChris

While many Americans deny that race discrimination continues to be one of society's leading problems, only 33 Representatives in the House were willing to pretend that the Voting Rights Act is an anachronism. The other 390 voting Representatives approved the Act's reauthorization yesterday. Rep. John Lewis spoke to the depressing reality that racism is not dead:

"Yes, we've made some progress; we have come a distance," he added. "The sad truth is, discrimination still exists. That's why we still need the Voting Rights Act, and we must not go back to the dark past."

Fortunately, the Act came up for renewal in an election year.

For weeks, the outcome of the battle to extend the act had been in doubt. Republican leaders had planned a vote in June. But they abruptly canceled it after conservative lawmakers objected to several provisions of the act .... The rebellion was an embarrassment for the Republican leadership.

Proposed amendments to weaken the Act were defeated. Now it's up to the Senate to take time away from debating silly constitutional amendments so that a vote can be scheduled on the reauthorization.

"For two months, we have wasted precious time as the Republican leadership played to its conservative base," said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader. "There are only 21 legislative days left in this Congress, and the time to act is now."

The ACLU championed the renewal. Its press release regarding the House vote is here, and more information about the importance of the Voting Rights Act is available at this website.

You can't believe much of anything Rep. Sensenbrenner says, including this: "This legislation proves our unbending commitment to voting rights." If Republicans were committed to voting rights, they would stop obsessing about the trivial problem of voters casting multiple votes, and focus instead on taking effective measures to assure that minority voters aren't intimidated or forced to stand in long lines at the polls, while making sure that every vote is counted.

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    House Votes to Renew Voting Rights Act | 6 comments (6 topical)
    Re: House Votes to Renew Voting Rights Act (none / 0) (#1)
    by scribe on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 10:05:10 AM EST
    I've no surprise that folks like Tancredo, Shadegg, Burton (Indiana) and Rohrabacher voted this way. Some might be surprised that Garrett (NJ-5) did, but one shouldn't be. His district, which wraps around the northern and northwestern boundaries of the state, contains some of the most ethnically un-diverse, Red areas in the State. Interestingly, though, it also contains Alpine, where a lot of entertainment-industry-oriented minority persons live in one of the most expensive ZIP codes anywhere outside NYC. And all the really wealthy towns of northern Bergen County, too. A good example of how the wealthy combine with the ignorant-proud-'n'-loud to make up today's Rethugs.

    Re: House Votes to Renew Voting Rights Act (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Jul 14, 2006 at 07:46:25 PM EST
    hey hey who want's to give me odds that Cheney/Rumsfeld aren't licing their lips in anticipation of a major regional conflict, ripe for war profiteering and legislative insurance that their "conservative view" or our world will last for tha next 30 yrs? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Re: House Votes to Renew Voting Rights Act (none / 0) (#3)
    by Aaron on Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 01:49:38 AM EST
    TL Thanks for covering this, I appreciate it. I'm glad to see that Congress has not deteriorated to the point where they're willing to drag us back to the 1950s, small consolation I suppose in light of everything that's happened in recent years. Maybe someone can dig up the names of all the house representatives who voted against the reauthorization, and post them. I don't care what their political motivations were for voting against renewal, wrong is wrong, and I don't want Americans to forget who they are when they vote in November. Let us all remember that many people gave up their lives in the 1960s so that all Americans could be free, never forget their sacrifice, for it was a sacrifice made for the benefit of all the people and all of human society. It represents the advancement of civilization to the next level in our social evolution. None of us can ever experience true freedom while some are deprived of it. Let freedom ring! Thanks again TL, and thank you America.

    Re: House Votes to Renew Voting Rights Act (none / 0) (#4)
    by Aaron on Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 02:53:26 AM EST
    Here's a list of House members who voted against renewal. Voting Against Voting Rights No doubt George W. Bush won't have the guts to veto the reauthorization even though it goes against his political leanings and personal views. Perhaps he'll include a note at the bottom, as the oh so often does, expressing his dissatisfaction with Congress's failure to amend The Voting Rights Act. But he probably doesn't have the guts for that either.

    Re: House Votes to Renew Voting Rights Act (none / 0) (#5)
    by Aaron on Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 03:15:41 AM EST
    House members voting against renewal. Richard Baker (R-LA), J. Gresham Barrett (R-SC), Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), Joe Barton (R-TX), Jo Bonner (R-AL), Dan Burton (R-IN), John Campbell (R-CA), Mike Conaway (R-TX), Nathan Deal (R-GA), John Doolittle (R-CA), John Duncan (R-TN), Terry Everett (R-AL), Virginia Foxx (R-NC), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Scott Garrett (R-NJ), Phil Gingrey (R-GA), Joel Hefley (R-CO), Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), Wally Herger (R-CA), Sam Johnson (R-TX), Steve King (R-IA), John Linder (R-GA), Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Gary Miller (R-CA), Charles Norwood (R-GA), Ron Paul (R-TX), Tom Price (R-GA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Ed Royce (R-CA), John Shadegg (R-AZ), Thomas Tancredo (R-CO), William Thornberry (R-TX), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) As with many Republicans these days, the word DEMOCRACY leaves a bad taste in their mouths.

    Re: House Votes to Renew Voting Rights Act (none / 0) (#6)
    by aw on Sat Jul 15, 2006 at 08:53:29 AM EST
    Scribe, I'm in Garrett's district and I still can't understand how he got elected in the first place. I can't imagine there is much support for letting the Voting Rights Act die, though. I never thought of this area as racist just because we're not very racially diverse. On second thought, I'm guessing maybe some of his constituents in Sussex county might approve, though.

    House Votes to Renew Voting Rights Act | 6 comments (6 topical)