FIGHTING VOTER SUPPRESSION

On 2025-03-31, Representative Jonathan L. Jackson (D-IL-1) delivered a floor speech titled "FIGHTING VOTER SUPPRESSION" in the House. The speech addressed the economy and also covered taxes, foreign policy. It referenced legislation including S218, S226.

FIGHTING VOTER SUPPRESSION

Congressional Record, Volume 171 Issue 57 (Monday, March 31, 2025) [Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 57 (Monday, March 31, 2025)] [House] [Pages H1362-H1366] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] FIGHTING VOTER SUPPRESSION (Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 3, 2025, Ms. McClellan of Virginia was recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.) General Leave Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material on the subject this Special Order. The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the gentlewoman from Virginia? There was no objection. Ms. McCLELLAN. Mr. Speaker, it is with great honor that I rise today to co-anchor the CBC Special Order hour along with my distinguished colleague, the legend, James Clyburn. For the next 60 minutes, members of the CBC have an opportunity to speak directly to the American people on voting rights, specifically fighting voter suppression, an issue of great importance to the Congressional Black Caucus, Congress, the constituents we represent, and all Americans. Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Constitution created a government by, of, and for We the People. As a child, I often reflected on exactly what that meant. What that means is that it is a government that reflects the perspective of and, therefore, meets the needs of the people who participate. However, for most of our country's history in the beginning, only White, landowning men could vote. That was changed in 1870 when the 15th Amendment opened the door for Black men to vote by prohibiting the Federal Government and States from denying or abridging a citizen's right to vote on the account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. During Reconstruction, formerly enslaved and free Black men voted and got elected to office. When Reconstruction ended, though, the former Confederate States passed new constitutions, including such things as literacy tests, poll taxes, and felony disenfranchisement. In the words of E. Carter Glass in the Virginia constitutional convention of 1902, he said these were intended to ``eliminate the darky'' as a factor in politics. They made no bones about what they were doing. Glass told his fellow convention delegates: ``This plan of popular suffrage will eliminate the darky as a political factor in this State in less than 5 years, so that in no single county in the Commonwealth will there be the least concern felt for the complete supremacy of the White race in the affairs government. Next to this achievement in vital consequence will be the inability of unworthy men of our own race to cheat their way into prominence.'' This was the first great backlash in American history to making progress toward making the ideals of upon which our country was founded true for everyone. Enter my own family history. My great-grandfather in Alabama around the same time had to take a literacy test in order to be able to register to vote. In this literacy test he was asked questions like: How many bubbles are in a bar of soap? And many other nonsensical questions that the person giving the literacy test could change the answer to based on who was answering the questions. However, my great-grandfather was a community leader and teacher. He got all the questions right, and the registrar turned to his assistant and said a word I will never say other than in a direct quote: ``I need more questions because this nigger got them all right.'' My great-grandfather got the next set of questions right. Then he was told: You must find three White men to vouch for your character to be able to register to vote. After much effort, he did it, and he voted in every election since. Now, the second great backlash occurred after the efforts of men like Dr. King; our former colleague, John Lewis; and members of the Congressional Black Caucus like Mr. Clyburn. Because of the Voting Rights Act, many of the things that my family suffered went away, like the poll tax. Mr. Speaker, when I took my oath of office on this floor 2 years ago, I took my oath of office on my father's Bible. It was an old, tattered Bible from the 1940s. I didn't understand why he wouldn't get a new one. Often as we got to the anniversary of my father's passing I would look through his Bible. On January 5, 2021, he was on my mind as Georgia elected the first Black Senator. I opened the Bible, and an envelope fell out I had never noticed, and inside was his poll tax receipt from when he first registered to vote. Then I understood: He kept it in his Bible to remind him of the sacred right of the right to vote. He kept this Bible even when we tried to give him new ones. This was the one he used to write his sermons every Sunday. Now, the 24th Amendment banned poll taxes like my father and my grandfather had to pay, but my mother was not able to vote until after the voting rights of 1965 passed. Now, Mr. Speaker, I tell this story because I daresay every member of the Congressional Black Caucus has a story or two or several in their family. In fact, some members of the CBC themselves have these stories, as you will probably hear. All of this effort culminated in the Voting Rights Act that had an immediate impact on expanding the ability and the participation of Black Americans to vote until the Supreme Court gutted it in Shelby v. Holder because it said that Congress had not created enough of a record to show that voter suppression still existed on the basis of race. However, just like those delegates in the 1902 Virginia convention, who, when asked: Well, when we give these literacy tests, how will we know if we don't explicitly say that it is on the basis of race? Those delegates had an answer. They knew it would be up to the person implementing the literacy test, just like with my great-grandfather, to determine whether the questions were right or wrong and if they answered enough. Now, Congress has failed to restore the provisions that were gutted in the Voting Rights Act, and as a result, we have seen a wave of laws across the country, particularly in the South, throwing up barriers in the way of voting. This is the latest voter suppression in the backlash to progress. Moreover, now our President issued an executive order I believe last week, and on the floor of this body this week, we will have Jim Crow 2.0, the poll tax of 2025, the SAVE Act, the requirement [[Page H1363]] that every American citizen prove their citizenship. Mr. Speaker, why is that a poll tax you might ask? It is because the only documents allowed to prove your citizenship, other than a military ID, costs money. I will give you some examples. The Real ID costs about $42. These are all numbers that I have gotten based on research in either my State or federally. A passport costs $130. A birth certificate from a State agency is $12 in Virginia. A consular report of birth abroad is $100. A certificate of citizenship is $1,385. Whether it was $2.12 that my father paid in 1947 or $1,385 that someone has to pay for a certificate of citizenship, it is a poll tax. It is illegal under our Constitution, and it is an effort at voter suppression. Mr. Speaker, for women, we just heard as we celebrate the final day of Women's History Month, if your name is not the same today as on your birth certificate, then you need a document to show the chain of custody of your name. That is more money, that is more obstacles, that is more hoops to jump through, and that is more voter suppression. The Congressional Black Caucus will not stand silently by and watch it happen. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from South Carolina (Mr. Clyburn). Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding to me, and I thank her so much for leading this Special Order hour. Mr. Speaker, I join with my colleague from Virginia to express my disagreement with the misplaced priorities of the Republican majority. The American people have made clear that they want their elected leaders to be focused on improving the economy and lowering costs. In this area, by any measure, the Trump administration and the Republican majorities here in Congress are off to a very poor start. Projected economic growth is down along with Americans' 401(k)'s. Inflation and expectations for inflation in the coming months are up. Last week, discussing the release of higher-than-expected inflation data, one economic analyst observed ``the preliminary signs of stagflation pressures.'' Now, I am old enough to remember the stagflation of the 1970s: low growth combined with high inflation. It was devastating then, and it would be devastating now. Unsurprisingly, consumer sentiment is down substantially. Much of this economic weakness is the result of the Trump administration's reckless, indiscriminate, and nonstrategic tariffs, which are expected to raise costs for Americans trying to make ends meet. To take one example, The Washington Post reported that the recently announced tariffs on automobiles are likely to raise prices most significantly for the most affordable cars. The President, however, when asked over the weekend about automobile price increases replied: ``I couldn't care less.'' The Secretary of the Treasury from my home State of South Carolina was doing quite well financially as a hedge fund manager doesn't think the American people care either. To quote him: ``Access to cheap goods is not the essence of the American Dream.'' {time} 2000 Clearly, Mr. Trump and Mr. Bessent have never struggled to make ends meet from paycheck to paycheck and appear to view those who do with disdain. With our Nation's economy in such a precarious state and 2 weeks of session left before a 2-week recess, is the Republican majority taking urgent action to bolster Americans' finances, boost growth, and restore confidence? Regrettably, they

Referenced legislation: S218, S226