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. CUM-
MINGS, 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 Cali-
fornia, 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. LAW-
RENCE) 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 con-
cerned 
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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 pro-
hibited, certain individuals and groups from exercising 
this right; 
Whereas during the 19th and early 20th centuries, many Na-
tive 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 de-
nied 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 ef-
fects of Jim Crow laws designed to prevent political, eco-
nomic, and social mobility; 
Whereas African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, Na-
tive Americans, and other underrepresented groups were 
subject to violence, poll taxes, literacy tests, all-White pri-
maries, 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 sup-
pressed the rights of minorities to vote; 
Whereas since the preclearance provisions of the Voting 
Rights Act of 1965 have been vacated, among other ef-
fects, 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 disenfran-
chised 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 Wis-
consin to be gerrymandered districts that were created to 
favor some groups over others; 
Whereas the Shelby County v. Holder Supreme Court deci-
sion calls on Congress to update the formula in the Vot-
ing 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 equip-
ment in minority communities, requirement of photo 
identification—the procurement of which amounts to a 
modern day poll tax,—and elimination of same-day reg-
istration; 
Whereas these changes could outright disenfranchise or make 
voting much more difficult for more than 80 million mi-
nority, elderly, poor, and disabled voters, among other 
groups; 
Whereas in 2016 alone, discriminatory laws in North Caro-
lina, 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 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) supports the designation of ‘‘National Vot-
ing Rights Month’’; 
(2) encourages all people in the United States 
to uphold the right of every American to exercise his 
or her sacred and fundamental right to vote; 
(3) encourages Congress to pass— 
(A) H.R. 1, the For the People Act of 
2019, to increase voters’ access to the ballot, 
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•HRES 556 IH 
end gerrymandering, create automatic voter 
registration, limit the power of restrictive voter 
ID laws, make critical investments in election 
infrastructure and technology, and address cor-
ruption in campaign finance and ethics; 
(B) H.R. 4, the Voting Rights Advance-
ment Act of 2019, to restore the protections of 
the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that prohibit dis-
criminatory voting practices, remove barriers to 
voting, and provide protections for minority vot-
ers in States with a history of voting discrimi-
nation; 
(C) H.R. 2722, the Securing America’s 
Federal Elections (SAFE) Act, to provide fund-
ing for States to improve the administration of 
elections, including enhancement of technology, 
election security, replacing antiquated voting 
systems, and meeting new standards for admin-
istering elections; and 
(D) other voting rights legislation that 
seeks to advance voting rights and protect 
United States elections; 
(4) recommends that our Nation’s public 
schools and universities develop an academic cur-
riculum under which students would learn about the 
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•HRES 556 IH 
importance of voting, how to become registered to 
vote, where to vote, and the different forms of vot-
ing, including teaching the history of voter suppres-
sion in America before the Voting Rights Act of 
1965 was passed, and teaching students about cur-
rent issues that are related to laws that have been 
passed to restrict the vote since 1965 or any actions 
taken by State and Federal Government officials 
since passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that 
have created barriers to being able to vote; 
(5) encourages the Postal Service to issue a 
special Fannie Lou Hamer stamp during the month 
of September to remind Americans about how ordi-
nary citizens risked their lives, marched, and partici-
pated in our great democracy so all Americans 
would have the fundamental right to vote; and 
(6) invites Congress to allocate the requisite 
funds needed for public service announcements on 
television, radio, newspapers, magazines, social 
media, billboards, buses, and other forms of media 
to remind Americans when elections are being held, 
and to urge people to get out and vote. 
Æ 
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