IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. RES. 1114 

Expressing support for the designation of the month of September as 

‘‘National Voting Rights Month’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2020 

Mr. VEASEY (for himself, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. PAYNE, and Mr. GRIJALVA) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, Intelligence (Permanent Select), Oversight and Reform, Science, 

Space, and Technology, Education and Labor, Ways and Means, Financial Services, Ethics, and Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for the designation of the month of 

September as ‘‘National Voting Rights Month’’. 

Whereas voting is one of the single most important rights 

that can be exercised in our democracy; 

Whereas over the course of history, various voter suppression 

laws in the United States have hindered, and even prohibited, certain individuals and groups from exercising 

this right; 

Whereas during the 19th and early 20th centuries, many Native Americans and Americans who were born abroad, 

many individuals who did not speak or write English, and 


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many who were formerly subjected to slavery, were denied full citizenship and prevented from voting by 

English literacy tests; 

Whereas since the 1870s, minority groups such as African 

Americans in the South suffered from the oppressive effects of Jim Crow laws designed to prevent political, economic, and social mobility; 

Whereas African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and other underrepresented groups were 

subject to violence, poll taxes, literacy tests, all-White primaries, property ownership tests, and grandfather clauses 

that sought to suppress their right to vote; 

Whereas members of the aforementioned groups and others 

are currently, in some cases, subject to intimidation, 

voter roll purges, bans on former prisoners from voting, 

and financial barriers that act effectively as modern day 

poll taxes; 

Whereas in 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 

1965 to protect the rights of African Americans and 

other traditionally disenfranchised groups to vote, among 

other reasons; 

Whereas in 2013, in the landmark Shelby County v. Holder 

case, the Supreme Court invalidated section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, dismantling the preclearance provision in the law that protected voters in States and units 

of local governments that historically have suppressed the 

rights of minorities to vote; 

Whereas since the preclearance provisions of the Voting 

Rights Act of 1965 have been vacated, among other effects, many States’ gerrymandered districts have gone 


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unchallenged or have become less likely to be invalidated 

by the courts; 

Whereas these gerrymandered districts have been found to 

have a discriminatory impact on traditionally disenfranchised minorities through tactics that include ‘‘cracking’’, 

diluting their voting power across many districts, and 

‘‘packing’’, concentrating minority voters’ power in one 

district to reduce their voting power in other districts; 

Whereas the courts have found the congressional and, in 

some cases, State legislative district maps in Texas, 

North Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, 

Wisconsin, and other States to be gerrymandered districts that were created to favor some groups over others; 

Whereas the Shelby County v. Holder Supreme Court decision calls on Congress to update the formula in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to better match current data; 

Whereas in at least 23 States, some form of restrictive voting 

law has been instituted since 2013; 

Whereas these restrictive voting laws encompass cutbacks in 

early voting, voter roll purges, placement of faulty equipment in minority communities, requirement of photo 

identification, and elimination of same-day registration; 

Whereas these policies could outright disenfranchise or make 

voting much more difficult for more than 80 million minority, elderly, poor, and disabled voters, among other 

groups; 

Whereas in 2016 alone, discriminatory laws in North Carolina, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Texas were ruled to 

violate voters’ rights and were overturned by the courts; 


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Whereas the COVID–19 public health emergency has only exacerbated the state of elections and voters’ access to the 

ballot; 

Whereas the lack of fair and safe election policies threaten 

minority communities, which have been disproportionately 

impacted and disenfranchised due to the COVID–19 pandemic, and their access to the ballot; 

Whereas tackling the challenges of administrating upcoming 

elections requires increasing the accessibility of vote-bymail and other limited contact options to ensure the protection of voters’ health and safety amid a global pandemic; 

Whereas as voting by mail becomes a safer and a more accessible option for voters to exercise their Constitutional 

right to vote during these unprecedented times, a fully 

functional and reliable United States Postal Service is of 

paramount importance in successfully conducting elections; 

Whereas Congress must work to combat any attempts to dismantle or underfund the United States Postal Service 

and thereby obstruct the passage of the mail as blatant 

tactics of voter suppression and election interference; 

Whereas there is much more work to be done to ensure all 

Americans have the right to vote through free, fair, and 

accessible elections; 

Whereas National Voter Registration Day is September 22; 

and 

Whereas the month of September would be an appropriate 

month to designate as ‘‘National Voting Rights Month’’ 

and ensure our democracy includes all of us through the 


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registration of voters and awareness of elections: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) supports the designation of ‘‘National Vot3 ing Rights Month’’; 

4 (2) encourages all people in the United States 

5 to uphold the right of every American to exercise his 

6 or her sacred and fundamental right to vote; 

7 (3) commemorates the 100th anniversary of the 

8 House passage of the 19th Amendment, which guar9 anteed women the right to vote, and the legacy of 

10 generations of suffragists that fought to protect 

11 women’s rights at the ballot; 

12 (4) encourages Congress to pass— 

13 (A) H.R. 1 (S. 949), the For the People 

14 Act of 2019, to increase voters’ access to the 

15 ballot, end gerrymandering, create automatic 

16 voter registration, limit the power of restrictive 

17 voter ID laws, make critical investments in elec18 tion infrastructure and technology, and address 

19 corruption in campaign finance and ethics; 

20 (B) H.R. 4 (S. 4263), the John R. Lewis 

21 Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2020, to re22 store the protections of the Voting Rights Act 

23 of 1965 that prohibit discriminatory voting 

24 practices, remove barriers to voting, and proVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:36 Sep 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR1114.IH HR1114

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1 vide protections for minority voters in States 

2 with a history of voting discrimination; 

3 (C) H.R. 7427, the ACCESS Act, to en4 sure every eligible American voter is able to ex5 ercise their right to vote safely and securely 

6 during a declared state of emergency by guar7 anteeing no-excuse absentee voting, expanding 

8 early voting, requiring state emergency plan9 ning for voting during a state of emergency, 

10 mandating emergency vote-by-mail and same11 day voter registration, and accommodations for 

12 voters on Indian lands; 

13 (D) H.R. 8015 (S. 4527), the Delivering 

14 for America Act, to prohibit the United States 

15 Postal Services from making changes to oper16 ations or levels of service from those that were 

17 in effect on January 1, 2020, establish require18 ments for the processing of election mail, and 

19 provide additional funding for the Postal Serv20 ice Fund; 

21 (E) H.R. 2722, the Securing America’s 

22 Federal Elections (SAFE) Act, to provide fund23 ing for States to improve the administration of 

24 elections, including enhancement of technology, 

25 election security, replacing antiquated voting 


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1 systems, and meeting new standards for admin2 istering elections; and 

3 (F) other voting rights legislation that 

4 seeks to advance voting rights and protect 

5 United States elections; 

6 (5) recommends that our Nation’s public 

7 schools and universities develop an academic cur8 riculum under which students would learn about the 

9 importance of voting, how to register to vote, where 

10 to vote, and the different forms of voting; in addi11 tion to teaching the history of voter suppression in 

12 America before and after the Voting Rights Act of 

13 1965, and current measures that have been passed 

14 to restrict the vote; 

15 (6) encourages the Postal Service to issue a 

16 special John Lewis stamp during the month of Sep17 tember to honor his life and legacy and commitment 

18 to voting rights, and to remind Americans about 

19 how ordinary citizens risked their lives, marched, 

20 and participated in our great democracy so all 

21 Americans would have the fundamental right to vote; 

22 and 

23 (7) invites Congress to allocate the requisite 

24 funds needed for public service announcements on 

25 television, radio, newspapers, magazines, social 


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1 media, billboards, buses, and other forms of media 

2 to remind Americans when elections are being held, 

3 share important registration deadlines, and to urge 

4 people to get out and vote. 

Æ 


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