Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress must urgently take all appropriate measures to guarantee civil rights and fair political representation to all Americans.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1384 Introduced in House (IH)]

<DOC>

119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1384

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress must 
 urgently take all appropriate measures to guarantee civil rights and 
            fair political representation to all Americans.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 24, 2026

  Mr. Casar (for himself, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Espaillat, Ms. 
 Meng, and Mr. Johnson of Georgia) submitted the following resolution; 
          which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that Congress must 
 urgently take all appropriate measures to guarantee civil rights and 
            fair political representation to all Americans.

Whereas, in Louisiana v. Callais, by a 6-3 decision, the far-right majority of 
        the Supreme Court effectively gutted what remained of section 2 of the 
        Voting Rights Act of 1965 and ``laid the groundwork for the largest 
        reduction in minority representation since the era following 
        Reconstruction'' which ``threatens a half-century's worth of gains in 
        voting equality'', according to Justice Kagan's dissent;
Whereas the Callais decision is the latest development in a years-long campaign 
        by the Supreme Court to undermine the Voting Rights Act, including its 
        2013 decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which in practice precluded 
        the use of the Act's most important enforcement mechanism, whereby 
        States and localities with an extensive history of racially 
        discriminatory voting practices submitted changes in their election laws 
        and policies or electoral district maps to the Federal Government for 
        advance review before putting them into effect;
Whereas the Callais decision has ushered in a wave of extreme partisan 
        gerrymandering that could swing over a dozen congressional seats, tip 
        the balance of power in the United States House of Representatives, 
        suppress the political power of voters of color nationwide, and create a 
        new Jim Crow reality for Black Americans in the South with respect to 
        the evisceration of Congressional Black representation;
Whereas, immediately following the Callais decision, Louisiana suspended the 
        United States House primary, disenfranchising tens of thousands of 
        voters who had already cast ballots in order to redraw the election maps 
        in a state where one in three residents is Black;
Whereas, in 1965, the American South had not a single Black representative in 
        the United States Congress due to Supreme Court rulings beginning in 
        1876 that dismantled civil and electoral protections for Blacks in the 
        South, denying their right to the franchise and effectively nullifying 
        the 15th Amendment for nearly a century;
Whereas Congress has a moral imperative to remedy the decadeslong assault on 
        Americans' civil rights and quickly enact voting rights protections, by 
        removing what former President Barack Obama called the ``Jim Crow 
        relic'' of the Senate filibuster, which was used by Strom Thurmond, a 
        segregationist, for 24 hours and 18 minutes to speak in opposition to 
        the Civil Rights Act;
Whereas post-Callais partisan gerrymandering disenfranchises voters of color 
        such as Latino, Black, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific 
        Islander communities living in multiracial districts across the United 
        States;
Whereas decades of progress in expanding Latino, Black, Asian American, Native 
        Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander political participation and 
        representation have been made possible through the protections of 
        section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the weakening of those 
        protections threatens to reverse hard-fought gains that have enabled 
        those communities to secure fair representation and greater inclusion in 
        the Nation's civic and political institutions;
Whereas decisions rolling back voting rights, reproductive freedoms, workers' 
        rights, environmental protections and commonsense gun laws, and 
        dramatically expanding presidential immunity while permitting racial 
        discrimination, have put the Court out of step with the American people 
        while enriching wealthy right-wing political donors and corporate 
        interests;
Whereas the Supreme Court corrupted American elections by greenlighting the 
        unlimited flow of dark money in Citizens United v. Federal Election 
        Commission and sided with Republicans to allow partisan gerrymandering 
        in Common Cause v. Rucho;
Whereas public confidence in the Supreme Court is at record lows, with half of 
        Americans holding an unfavorable opinion of the Court, as rightwing 
        Justices have accepted lavish vacations and gifts from billionaires and 
        failed to make proper disclosures of these and other financial 
        interests, unbound by an enforceable code of ethics;
Whereas the Court's far-right supermajority poses a serious threat to any future 
        attempts by Congress to realize the promise of a multiracial democracy, 
        rein in executive power, champion workers' rights, protect voting 
        rights, and restore and strengthen the Federal protections against 
        racial discrimination in the Voting Rights Act;
Whereas the Court's rightwing majority has empowered and emboldened President 
        Trump's attempts to hold on to and expand his power, enabling 
        authoritarian efforts to dismantle Federal agencies, unlawfully fire 
        independent agency heads and civil servants without cause, rescind 
        congressionally appropriated funds, ban transgender servicemembers from 
        the military, and racially profile suspected noncitizens; and
Whereas Congress, as the primary branch of Government and the one most closely 
        reflecting the American people's democratic will, has a mandate to act 
        boldly to rebuild Americans' trust in the Supreme Court and democracy: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives supports--
            (1) the adoption by the House of Representatives of 
        legislation to restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act of 
        1965 (52 U.S.C. 10101 note; Public Law 89-110) to end racial 
        discrimination in voting and elected representation and ensure 
        that all eligible Americans are able to vote; and
            (2) under the next prodemocracy governing moment--
                    (A) the elimination of the 60-vote threshold in the 
                Senate; and
                    (B) enacting structural changes to the Supreme 
                Court, taking into consideration a wide range of 
                reforms, such as establishing a binding judicial code 
                of ethics for Supreme Court Justices, term limits for 
                Supreme Court Justices, and expanding the size of the 
                Supreme Court.
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