Route it's House Democrats to support making sure that the voting Rights Act is fully restored today also marks the sixth anniversary of the Supreme Court Shelby versus holder decision Six years ago Supreme Court sent a simple message They said that motor suppression is not a problem anymore It's a problem of the past Like Alabama and Texas and so many others send an equally straightforward message They said. No voter suppression is alive and well and we're doing it through voter ID laws to make it We have a Bill H four which will fully restore the voting rights Act of 1965 and we are proud to be supportive of it to November 2018. Elections Midterm elections show just how urgent the need is to protect our right to vote No striking was in Georgia the Republican for governor powers as Secretary of state to put over 53000 voter registrations on hold why infractions as simple as missing a hyphen in a name and a vote in the name I He kept Americans from casting their ballots in November despite the modern day efforts for voter suppression We like in Georgia and Alabama and across this nation we, as Democrats have put forward a R four the voting Rights Advancement Act and with the help of all of you we will put it on the floor and we will pass it We have to make sure yes we have to make sure Republicans know that it's unacceptable that in 2019, they're not supporting voting rights What has changed since 2006 when some To honor this promise we will have four and we dare the Republicans to join us and making sure that every American has the right to vote in next we will hear from Speaker Nancy Pelosi who has no Advocate for the right to vote and restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965 when our Speaker Nancy Pelosi Thank you very much Terry You're strong strong leadership on behalf of the United States of America as we go forward to this Period of time to celebrate the fourth of July wanna celebrate liberty and Justice for all and that you everyone have It was a few years ago on the steps of the Supreme for when they heard The way A few years later your time later That Supreme speak out country and came to the capital and dedicated the statue to Rosa Parks I will probably College any just a Damage to their conscience In their honor and girls joining us but they took another leg Part of Cherry This is very important about It's about White folks Constitution hard for We will not let them take We have no stronger champion Know deeper is no stronger fighter for all of that The distinguished gentlemen Own watch You know all the time To make sure that work democracy continues in this country And deeply in Americans learn about the future of democracy Seem like like We must have the capacity and the ability to redeem the soul of this nation instead on the right course you must do all we can make this nation Justice in the I get a smile like it's a great young man On the great city of New York Thank you very much rights act of 1965 is one of the most effective civil rights statutes that was ever enacted into law six years ago today. However the Supreme Court issued its disastrous decision and Shelby County versus holder and thereby effectively got it The accidental enforcement provision known as Preclearance requirement before the body rights at States and localities Shine. We passed the congressional secure the knowledge that it could take many years before the last could be successfully challenged in court at all as soon as Was overturned by the courts Another would be an act essentially setting up a discriminatory game of Whackamole section. Five Street clearance provision broke this legal logjam and help to stop this discriminatory practice success of the effective preclearance requirements as a parent almost immediately registration of African American voters more than doubling in the South within just four years of an act by striking down the formula for determining which States and localities as subject to requirement County decision effectively suspended the operation of the free clearance requirement itself and then it's The game of Whacamole returned with a vengeance since the Shelby County decision. We have seen the emergence of other voter suppression measures like burdens from citizenship laws significant scale back early voting periods restrictions on absentee ballots and wasn't making difficult to restore the voting rights of formerly incarcerated individuals and many others These kinds of voting practices have a very disproportionate negative impact I mean already voted and they are intense the most recent elections in November 2018 voters across the country The barriers to voting from state and local laws and circumstances made it hard even impossible to vote for example, in Georgia, as was already mentioned 50 feet thousand voting registered voter 70 percent of boomer African American who placed in pending status by the Secretary of state because of minor misspellings on their voter registration for while it is true that those seeking to enforce the voting rights Act can still pursue after the back legal remedies even without pre clearance I'm an experienced proven such Trump steaks far longer far more expensive than having an effective preclearance regimes and once the vote has been denied Cannot cash damage to our democracy is permanent That is why we hope that members on both sides of the aisle in both chambers of Congress to come together to advance legislation to restore the voting Rights Act is free clearance, you're flying into full vitality today. The House Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution is holding a hearing to provide the opportunity to renew our understanding of the importance of the voting Rights Act and its provision and to support our Grab the legislative solution we fledge before the year is out we will pass a new voting rights act renewal with a new clearance requirements that will again be voting the sacred right that it is and give an effective enforcement Now the Subcommittee Chair Constitution on the Judiciary Committee Steve Cohen We will be having a hearing to vote in our primary witness will be Stacey Stacey Abrams victim much of what you did to restrict the vote It was done intentionally at the African American Vote Democrat in African person who was most responsible for implementing those laws and taking people off the voting rolls with the Secretary of state have to be Stacy Abrams opponents now the beneficiary of all those various actions serving as governor State of Georgia That was not an accident. It was intentional this pretty impact upon effort going on in the South civil war too. Many people in the South believe saw Dixie times. They are not forgotten an old tradition. They aren't forgotten and it's about keeping black people down That's what they have effectively done with state laws to change voting places contain days of voting to change the photo ID laws limit impact on African American voting in the South There's no reason why the voting Rights Act should have been struck down the last time we had The Democrats have position to be as sponsor of the bill You have to bring the public along with that was about the same time as the Malaysian airplane with missing South Indiana got four Republicans on the building and I worked Republican side very very hard to find bread to be a cosponsors It would have been easier for me to go to the South Indian Ocean and find that airplane the Republicans work there. Then I'm afraid they won't be there now and we probably missed was done as the grim reaper of the Place for the House bills in the Senate He praised the fact that we didn't need reparations. We elected a black President so we immediately said should not serve a second term I don't think the will be a bust but we need to have Senate Secretary to give all Americans the right to vote and make us a more perfect Union supposed to be here care devoting my caucus Mark Representative thank you very much You're Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi everyone that is here today for coming to listen to us. Talk about the importance of today I'm a name is Mark the Fort Worth Dallas area and we're here to Mark a grim anniversary but I don't call it anniversary nightmares nightmare. We revisit every six years because that's how long Down the critical provisions of the Voting Rights Act that full fair practices and gave minority communities of voice at the ballot box this week, we could see Supreme Court market sixth anniversary for this decision again again by the siding to silence the voice of millions of they allow a citizenship question to be added 2020 cents in Dallas alone in the span That worked found and thank God. They were said that they could eliminate one point seven legislative state legislative districts that were Latino districts if they were able to add this question on the senses Now, what do you think that is all about Everyone deserves a fair chance in our democracy No matter what the color of their skin and we are fighting to preserve voting rights for all Americans No one should be staying home on Election day We've got to use our rights before we lose them and we have to continue to fight just as hard to defend our voting rights as our predecessors fault earned him keep the fight up Yes Great State of New Mexico Good afternoon everyone. Terry. It's an honor to be with you today and I say thank you Terry report stepping forward with courage and with the commitment and the focus on making sure that we're able to restore the vote that we're able as we see around us that we're gonna make sure that we stand up to everyone that is blocking access to the ballot box to work and commitment of Speaker Nancy Pelosi Now with the new Democratic majority we can and we will pass this important piece of legislation especially reminding ourselves that it's been six years since the Supreme Court Good at the voting Rights Act back in place at a time where we've seen abuse after abuse We've seen discrimination and actions taken against African Americans against Black and Brown community against Hispanics and I proudly carrying the Native American Voting Rights Act as well as we make sure that we're reaching off across America to do the right thing Look what our Republican colleagues can't seem to understand is with these initiatives Always been about is stopping people of color stop in minority communities from exercising the rights that our ancestors fought so hard for the work that Congressman John Lewis remind us us everyday but Jerry you understand something that we learned from Congressman John Lewis and it's okay to get into trouble as long as it's good trouble people across America to make sure that they join up with us and they get some good trouble as we get this legislation adopted so Terry thank you again. Let's get this done and send a signal across America Make sure you join us with the hashtag retort restore the vote Spread it across the country People on board and let's make sure that we pass this in the halls of the Congress Thank you Now we're gonna hear from the chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific Caucus Judy Chew Lady from California Thank you Congressmember Jerry and all our champions for democracy or working to restore the vote at the four Americans have fought and died just for the right to enter a voting booth and be able to determine their own future girls like our own John Lewis for Bloodies. Just register to vote Others like my grandfather were blocked entirely that is because for six decades, Chinese Americans were denied equal rights to the Chinese Exclusion act of 1882 was actually prohibited Chinese Americans from becoming naturalized citizens so that they could not vote Unfortunately the bullying right back did pass and we were not only able to roll back. They get disenfranchising laws We were able to stop him from being passed again but that will change six years ago when the Supreme Court got it no voting rights act through the Shelby decision Since the Shelby decision I've heard complaints of disenfranchisement tactics, including discriminatory voter ID laws, voter intimidation and efforts to refuse Assistance at the home has since 70 percent of Asian Pacific islanders are immigrants and over one third of limited English proficient This is left them vulnerable state seeking to make voting less accessible and it's resulted in South Asian Americans being unable to vote Well we day to stop this. We need to be able to restore our voting rights with the Voting Rights Advancement Act which will allow us to get them resulting materials that we need and have access Generations before us have fought long and hard to protect access to the ballot boxes that we can have a voice in our democracy and with no voting rights advancement Act Democrats are fighting to protect that voice So as we Mark the sixth anniversary of the Shelby decision we're more determined than ever to get this bill passed so that all Americans will have equal access to develop This will be our last Speaker is a Vanita Gupta with the chairwoman of the Leadership Conference Send us all afternoon athletic representing a coalition of more than 200 organizations working towards an America as good as my deal I am proud to be here today in support of the voting Rights Advancement Act truly is the time to build a representative 20 percent 20 first century democracy that we deserve and I wanna thank Congresswoman Soul Speaker Pelosi Chairman Nadler For all his sacrifices in getting us here and the other members of Congress we need to restore the voting right back The voting Rights Act has long been considered the most impactful and sacred legislation Congress ever passed But as we all heard six years ago today the Supreme Court outside of the Shelby County versus holder decision and got it the preclearance provision of the Voting Rights Act that for decades, block racially discriminatory voting practices Now for you to revive Jim Crow strategies State quickly moved to pass a number of antivoting laws and shrink the electorate to a wider group of voters as head of the Justice Civil Rights Division the year after the Shelby County decision came down I saw the devastating consequences up close I saw just how much it weakens our ability as United States government to fight racial discrimination at the ballot box and in fact, more than One million Americans who try to vote in 2016 we're not able to because of barriers like strict voter ID laws and registration challenges when are democracy is in peril so to our civil rights and we have to have a working democracy In order to make progress on every other critical issue like racial Justice, Justice reform educational equity immigrants, right millions of people made clear last year in the midterm elections that they want to build a representative democracy where everyone, regardless of their skin, color or race can participate Voters turned out in record numbers to support state ballot initiatives in Red and blue States This is not a left or right issue. It should not be this is about right versus wrong and now Congress The letter at the National level by passing the Voting Rights Advancement Act Leadership Conference is gonna continue working. We won't leave any stone unturned with our coalition members and elected leaders to restore the voting rights Act and together we are gonna ensure a future where elections are free fair and accessible to all Thank you Committee for civil Rights under the lie as well as the legal Defense Fund. All of our partners who are here What do we want a vote We can we want it now Alright, that's good job