3A
NEWS/tr^e Charlotte $ofiit
Thursday, June 29, 2006
U.S. voting rights renewal hits congressional snag
Continued from page 1A
civil rights movement, we
learned that some things
happen in the back room
where the deals are made.”
Grordon said
while most of
the pubhc
attention is
focused on the
House, the
Senate has
been slow to
renew the vot
ing measure.
Gordon has
met with Sen.
Arlen Spector
(R-Pa.), chair
man of the
Judiciary
Committee, to
register his
concerns.
Gordon
“The Senate is slowing their
roll,” Gordon says. ‘Theyre
not moving this with the
sense of urgency that they
shoiild.”
Civil ri^ts leaders made
their comments in a joint
appearance before the annual
convention of the National
Newspaper Pubhshers
Association, a federation of
Stamp
sought for
N.C. rep
Continued front page 1A
Edgecombe County resident
Geoige Henry White, who
represented eastern North
Carolina from 1897-1901.
The request was co-signed by
all 42 members of the
Cor^ressional Black Caucus
and 12 of 13 House members
from North Carolina.
“George Henry White was a
mighty force of one,”
Butterfield said. “Throughout
his life he relentlessly stirred
the conscience of America to
embrace racial justice and
equality for all people.”
The 15-member CSAC
makes recommendations to
the Postmaster General on
which proposals to consider.
Bom a slave in Rosindale, a
Bladen Cormty town in 1852,
White graduated Howard
University in
Washington,
D.C. before
returning to
North Carolina
as a school
principal in
1877. He was
Butterfield one of the first
blacks admit
ted to the N.C. bar in 1879
and served a term in the state
House of Representatives
and Senate.
From 1886-94, he was
named prosecutor for the sec
ond judicial district of North
Carolina, the only African
American to'hold such a posi
tion in the U.S.
White, who was elected to
Congress in 1896 and re
elected two years later, w'as
the only black member of Ihe
HoTOse when he left office. He
is best known for advocated
the federal government take
a more aggressive approach
to brir^tng to a halt lynching
of blacks in the South. He
authored a bUl making lynch-
ir^ a federal crime punish
able by death, but it was
defeated.
“George Henry White’s hfe
exemplifies the true spirit of
America,” Butterfield said.
“He is deservir^ of the dis
tinction of being honored on a
U.S. postal stamp.”
George
Henry
White was
a mighty
force of
one. ”
U.S. Rep, G.K.
Butterfield (D-N.C.)
more than 200 black newspa
pers.
Key provisions of the 1965
Votir^ Rights Act racpire next
August. Activists are eager to
get the measure extended
this year to avert possible
last-minute legislative itch
es. In a rare show of biparti
sanship, Republicans and
Democrats, along with
President Bush, voiced sup
port for for H.R. 9, called the
Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa
Parks and Coretta Scott King
Voting Rights Act
Reauthorization and
Amendments of 2006.
“The House Judiciary
Committee held 12 hearings
on the legislation,” said Rep.
G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.)
“Such a period provided more
than ample opportunity for
House members to review the
issue and make their views
known. Given how important
this is and that it has broad
bipartisan support, it’s very
disappointing for this bill to
be pulled from considera
tion.”
The . sponsors include
Senate Majority Leader Bill
Frist (R-Term.), Minority
Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
and Sens. Arlen Specter (R-
Pa.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
and Edward Keimedy CD-
Mass.). The House sponsors
include Reps. James
Sensenbrermer (R-Wis.),
John Conyers (D-Mich.) and
Watt, whose district includes
Charlotte.
“In the 1960s,* many active
citizens struggled hard to
convince Congress to pass
civil rights legislation that
ensured the rights of all —
including the right to vote.
That victory was a milestone
in the history of civil ri^ts.
Congress must act to renew
the Voting Rights Act of
1965,” President Bush said in
a Black History month
speech at the White House.
Given the broad political
support, civil rights leaders
and members of the
Congressional Black Caucus
were stuimed last week when
a handful of southern
Republicans held up the leg
islation, complaining that the
South - the rbgion most cov
ered by the legislation -had
been unfairly targeted.
However, black political dis
enfranchisement was com
mon in the Deep South dur-
it^ the early 19603, when tire
legislation was first passed.
Opponents of the voting
extension argue that it
should be nationalized so
that one region will not be
unfairly burdened. However,
civil ri^ts activists say that
would only lead to nnllifying-
the measure .because, under
recent Supreme Court rul
ings, past discrimination
must be ^ablished in order
for a measure to be held con-
stitutional-
“We have worked eadremely
hard over a number of
months to reach bipartisan
and bicameral agreement on
this legislation and had rea
son to beheve it would be con
sidered expeditiously” CBC
Chairman Mel Watt said in
statement. “The Voting
Ri^ts Act has always had
strong support fi'om
Democrats and Republicans
alike. We fear that pulling the
bill' could send the wrong
message about whether the
bill enjoj^ broad bipartisan
support and that delaying
consideration until after the
Jxily 4 recess could give those
with partisan intentions
space and time to politicize
the issue.”
Even some Repubhcans are
baffled by the holdup.
House Judiciary
Committee Chairman F.
James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-
^Afis.) says the bill was crafted
after months of studying
more than 12,000 pages of
testimony that indicated
there is much work to be done
in assuring non-discriraina-
tion.
“Some members, whom I
beheve are misinformed,
have expressed concerns
about voting on this legisla
tion now,” Sensenbrenner
said. “I stand by this biparti
san legislation. H.R. 9 is a
goodbiQ-”
Congress first amended
and strengthened the Voting
Rights Act in 1982, when it
was first set to e35)ire, and
then extended it for 25 years
— imtil 2007. Key sections are
set to ejqjire next year. One is
tile pre-clearance dause of
Section 5, requirir^ all or
parts of 16 states with a his
tory of discrimination to sub
mit any changes in voting
procedures to the
Department of Justice for
approval before they can take
effect.
Those states are: Alabama,
Alaska, Arizona, California,
Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,
Michigan, hfississippi, New
Hampshire, New York, North
Carolina, South Carolina,
South Dakota, Texas and
Virginia. The state, county or
local governments must
prove to feda*al authorities
that voting changes do not
have radally discriminatory
purposes and that they will
not make radal minority vot
ers wome off than they were
prior to the change. The
attorney general can then
prevent a change by issuing
an otgection, which can be
challenged in the United
States Court of Appeals for
the District of Columbia
Circuit. Section 5 also
requires federal poll watchers
to be onsite during voting.
Section 203, which require^
voting precincts to eliminate
any language barriers, is also
up for renewal.
Some dvil rights leaders
had predicted trouble. Jesse
Jackson Sr. said durir^ the
40th anniversary of the act
last year; “The forces that we
defeated in 1965 never
stopped trying to take it
back... They never stop.”
Herbert L. White of The
Charlotte Post contributed.
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