IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 556 

Expressing support for designation of the month of September as ‘‘National 

Voting Rights Month’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019 

Mr. VEASEY (for himself, Mr. MEEKS, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. CLARKE of New 

York, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. YARMUTH, Ms. BROWNLEY of 

California, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. BASS, Mr. TED LIEU of California, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. 

EVANS, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. SIRES, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. VELA, Mrs. 

KIRKPATRICK, Mr. CLAY, Ms. MOORE, Mr. COSTA, Ms. JOHNSON of 

Texas, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. BROWN of 

Maryland, Ms. NORTON, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Mr. 

MOULTON, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. 

LOWENTHAL, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. 

TITUS, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mr. 

RUSH, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. KHANNA, 

Mr. RYAN, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. CRIST, Ms. MATSUI, Mr. 

LOEBSACK, Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. 

ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. ALLRED, Mr. BLUMENAUER, and Mrs. LAWRENCE) 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 


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•HRES 556 IH 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for 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 

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; 

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; 


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•HRES 556 IH 

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, 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 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 

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, and Wisconsin 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 22 States, some form of restrictive voting law has 

been instituted since 2013; 


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•HRES 556 IH 

Whereas these restrictive voting laws encompass cutbacks in 

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

identification—the procurement of which amounts to a 

modern day poll tax,—and elimination of same-day registration; 

Whereas these changes 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 overturned by the courts; 

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

Americans have the right to vote; 

Whereas National Voter Registration Day is September 25; 

and 

Whereas the month of September would be an appropriate 

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

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) encourages Congress to pass— 

8 (A) H.R. 1, the For the People Act of 

9 2019, to increase voters’ access to the ballot, 


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•HRES 556 IH 

1 end gerrymandering, create automatic voter 

2 registration, limit the power of restrictive voter 

3 ID laws, make critical investments in election 

4 infrastructure and technology, and address cor5 ruption in campaign finance and ethics; 

6 (B) H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advance7 ment Act of 2019, to restore the protections of 

8 the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that prohibit dis9 criminatory voting practices, remove barriers to 

10 voting, and provide protections for minority vot11 ers in States with a history of voting discrimi12 nation; 

13 (C) H.R. 2722, the Securing America’s 

14 Federal Elections (SAFE) Act, to provide fund15 ing for States to improve the administration of 

16 elections, including enhancement of technology, 

17 election security, replacing antiquated voting 

18 systems, and meeting new standards for admin19 istering elections; and 

20 (D) other voting rights legislation that 

21 seeks to advance voting rights and protect 

22 United States elections; 

23 (4) recommends that our Nation’s public 

24 schools and universities develop an academic cur25 riculum under which students would learn about the 


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•HRES 556 IH 

1 importance of voting, how to become registered to 

2 vote, where to vote, and the different forms of vot3 ing, including teaching the history of voter suppres4 sion in America before the Voting Rights Act of 

5 1965 was passed, and teaching students about cur6 rent issues that are related to laws that have been 

7 passed to restrict the vote since 1965 or any actions 

8 taken by State and Federal Government officials 

9 since passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that 

10 have created barriers to being able to vote; 

11 (5) encourages the Postal Service to issue a 

12 special Fannie Lou Hamer stamp during the month 

13 of September to remind Americans about how ordi14 nary citizens risked their lives, marched, and partici15 pated in our great democracy so all Americans 

16 would have the fundamental right to vote; and 

17 (6) invites Congress to allocate the requisite 

18 funds needed for public service announcements on 

19 television, radio, newspapers, magazines, social 

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

21 to remind Americans when elections are being held, 

22 and to urge people to get out and vote. 

Æ 


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