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The Voting Rights Amendment Act, S. 1945, Proposes Solutions to the Present Gaps in Voter Protection That Are Well-Tailored to Texas Voters' Needs

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The Voting Rights Amendment Act, S. 1945, Proposes Solutions to the Present Gaps in Voter Protection That Are Well-Tailored to Texas Voters' Needs AUTHENTICATED U.S. GOVERNMENT__ INFORMATION GPO S. HRG. 113-842 THE VOTING RIGHTS AMENDMENT ACT, S.1945: UPDATING THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT INRESPONSE TO SHELBY COUNTY V.HOLDER HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JUNE 25, 2014 Serial No. J-113-67 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary - r C -O 2 C C - 2 v' b 2 O t 2 - - O _ t r , -C . O C C 2 "O -C C 2 _ O - D t= 70 C -O 2 C 70 C - - S. HRG. 113-842 THE VOTING RIGHTS AMENDMENT ACT, S.1945: UPDATING THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT INRESPONSE TO SHELBY COUNTY V.HOLDER HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JUNE 25, 2014 Serial No. J-113-67 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 99-960 PDF WASHINGTON : 2017 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800 Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402-0001 COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont, Chairman DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California CHUCK GRASSLEY, Iowa, Ranking Member CHUCK SCHUMER, New York ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah DICK DURBIN, Illinois JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island LINDSEY GRAHAM, South Carolina AMY KLOBUCHAR, Minnesota JOHN CORNYN, Texas AL FRANKEN, Minnesota MICHAEL S. LEE, Utah CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware TED CRUZ, Texas RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, Connecticut JEFF FLAKE, Arizona MAZIE HIRONO, Hawaii KRISTINE LucIus, Chief Counsel and Staff Director KOLAN DAvis, Republican Chief Counsel and Staff Director CONTENTS JUNE 25, 2014, 10:06 A.M. STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS Page Feinstein, Hon. Dianne, a U.S. Senator from the State of California, prepared statem ent .......................................................................................... 155 Grassley, Hon. Chuck, a U.S. Senator from the State of Iowa ................... 3 Leahy, Hon. Patrick J., a U.S. Senator from the State of Vermont ............... 1 prepared statem ent .......................................................................................... 152 WITNESSES Witness List ............................................................................................................. 43 Carvin, Michael A., Partner, Jones Day, Washington, DC ...................... 6 prepared statem ent .......................................................................................... 89 Garcia, Hon. Sylvia R., State Senator, Texas State Senate, District 6, Houston, Texas .................................................................................................... 5 prepared statem ent .......................................................................................... 44 Ifill, Sherrilyn, President and Director-Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., Washington, DC ................................. 11 prepared statem ent .......................................................................................... 127 Johnson, Rev. Dr. Francys, State President, Georgia NAACP, Statesboro, Georgia .................................................................................................................. 8 prepared statem ent .......................................................................................... 105 addendum to prepared statement .................................... 114 Thernstrom, Abigail, Ph.D., Adjunct Scholar, American Enterprise Institute, Washington, DC ................................................................................................... 10 prepared statem ent .......................................................................................... 120 addendum to prepared statem ent ................................................................... 125 QUESTIONS Questions submitted to Michael A. Carvin by Senator Grassley .......... ..... 158 Questions submitted to Sherrilyn Ifill by Senator Grassley ................... 160 Questions submitted to Abigail Thernstrom by Senator Grassley ......... ..... 159 ANSWERS Responses of Michael A. Carvin to questions submitted by Senator Grassley ... 161 Responses of Sherrilyn Ifill to questions submitted by Senator Grassley .......... 166 Responses of AbigailThernstromto questions submitted by Senator Grassley .. 163 MISCELLANEOUS SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD African American Ministers in Action (AAMIA), Reverend Timothy McDonald III, Chairman, Reverend Dr. Robert P. Shine, Vice-Chair, and Minister Leslie Watson Malachi, Director, June 25, 2014, letter .......................... 200 Am Kolel Jewish Renewal Community of Greater Washington et al., June 25, 2014, letter ..................................................................................................... 268 Ameinu et al., June 25, 2014, letter ..................................... 274 American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), Samer E. Khalaf, Esq., President, June 24, 2014, letter .................................. ..... 223 American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), Nancy A. LeaMond, Execu- tive Vice President, State and National Group, June 4, 2014, letter .......... 170 Page American Bar Association (ABA), James R. Silkenat, President, June 25, 2014, letter ............................................................................................................ 204 American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Laura W. Murphy, Director, Wash- ington Legislative Office, and Deborah J. Vagins, Senior Legislative Coun- sel, Washington Legislative Office, statement ............................ 206 American Constitution Society (ACS), William Yeomans, Nicholas Stephan- opoulos, Gabriel J. Chin, Samuel Bagenstos, and Gilda R. Daniels, May 2014, issue brief ................................................................................................... 350 American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), William Samuel, Director, Government Affairs Department, July 2, 2014, letter ............................................................................................... 231 American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Charles M. Loveless, Director of Federal Government Affairs, statement ..... 232 American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Randi Weingarten, President, June 25, 2014, letter ..................................................................................................... 297 Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Deborah M. Lauter, Director, Civil Rights, statement .............................................................................................................. 224 B'nai B'rith International, Allan Jacobs, President, and Daniel S. Mariaschin, Executive Vice President, June 24, 2014, letter .......................... 233 Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice, Stosh Cotler, Chief Executive Officer, statement ................................................................................................. 323 Brennan Center for Justice, "Shelby County: One Year Later," Tomas Lopez, report ..................................................................................................................... 234 Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, "The State of Voting in 2014," Wendy Weiser and Erik Opsal, executive sum- m a ry ...................................................................................................................... 2 4 5 Campaign Legal Center, The, J. Gerald Hebert, Executive Director, June 25, 2014, letter ..................................................................................................... 252 Common Cause, Miles Rapoport, President, statement ...................... 263 Communications Workers of America (CWA), Shane Larson, Legislative Di- rector, July 2, 2014, letter ............................................ 332 Jackson Lee, Hon. Sheila, a Representative in Congress from the State of Texas, statement .................................................................................................. 309 Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), Priscilla Ouchida, Executive Di- rector, June 17, 2014, letter ..................................... ..... 273 Johnson, Jr., Hon. Henry C. "Hank," a Representative in Congress from the State of Georgia, July 17, 2014, letter ............................... 294 Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, The, Wade Henderson, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Nancy Zirkin, Executive Vice President, June 23, 2014, letter .................................. ..... 183 Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel, statement .................... 276 National Action Network (NAN), Reverend Al Sharpton, President and Founder, Reverend W. Franklyn Richardson, Chairman of the Board, and Janaye Ingram, Acting National Executive Director, statement ......... .... 326 National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), William J. Simonitsch, President, statement ......................................280 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, President, North Carolina State Conference of NAACP Branches, statement .................................. ..... 172 National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), Arturo Vargas, Executive Director, statement ...........................
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