Mr. Chairman, today we will vote on the most fundamental of American values, the right to cast a meaningful vote in a free and fair election. We have declared to the world that this is what we stand for. It is what we have insisted other nations do. We have made great progress, but that work is not finished.

It is impossible to review the record without concluding that the Voting Rights Act is responsible for much of that progress, and that it is still necessary and will be for the foreseeable future.

Section 5 is not, as some would argue, a punishment but a remedy. It protects voters from being disenfranchised. It is in place because local governments have a long history of disenfranchising Americans that continues right up to the present time, as the shameful attempts by the States of Georgia and Texas to restrict voting participation, which had to be knocked down by the Federal courts as recently as yesterday, clearly shows.

This makes particularly unfortunate attempts led by some Members from those States to restrict the reach of section 5, and I say that as a representative of New York City, which is also covered by section 5, and should be.

Some would eliminate the English language voting assistance provisions of section 203. The same arguments used to justify literacy tests in prior years are now being recycled to exclude American citizens with limited English proficiency.

I urge my colleagues not to allow a small group to drag this Nation back to the days of Jim Crow voting. If we are to be a beacon of democracy to the world, then we must stand by our own values.

I urge my colleagues to reject these divisive amendments. Do not water down the Voting Rights Act; do not turn our backs on one of the glory pages of this House. Reenact the Voting Rights Act without watering it down.