Speech #870187265

Is there objection to the request of the Senator from Montana? The Chair hears none. and it is so ordered. The amendment. in the nature of a substitute. offered by the Senator from Montana for himself and the Senator from Illinois is as follows: Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the following: "That (a) Congress finds that it is essential to our form of government that all qualified citizens have the opportunity to participate in the choice of elected officials. "(b) Congress further finds that the right to vote in Federal elections should be maintained free from discrimination and other corrupt influence. "(c) Congress further finds that many persons have been subjected to arbitrary and unreasonable voting restrictions on account of their race or color. that literacy tests and other performance examinations have been used extensively to effect arbitrary and unreasonable denials of the right to vote. and that existing statutes are inadequate to assure that all qualified persons shall enjoy the right to vote. "(d) Congress further finds that education in the United States is such that persons who have completed six primary grades in a public school or accredited private school cannot reasonably be denied the franchise on grounds of illiteracy or lack of sufficient education or intelligence to exercise the prerogatives of citizenship. "(e) Congress further finds that large numbers of American citizens who are also citizens of the several States are deprived of the right to vote by virtue of their birth and education in a part of the United States in which the Spanish language is commonly used. that these citizens are well qualified to exercise the franchise. that such information as is necessary for the intelligent exercise of the franchise is available through Spanishlanguage news sources. that lack of proficiency in the English language provides no reasonable basis for excluding these citizens from participating in the democratic process. "(f) Under article I. section 4 of the Constitution. section 5 of the fourteenth amendment. and section 2 of the fifteenth amendment. and its power to protect the integrity of the Federal electoral process. Congress has the duty to provide against the abuses which presently exist. "SEc. 2. Subsection (b) of section 2004 of the Revised Statutes (42 U.S.C. 1971) is amended to read as follows: 1-(b) No person. whether acting under color of law or otherwise. shall Intimidate. threaten. coerce. or attempt to intimidate. threaten. or coerce any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such person to vote or to vote as he may choose in any Federal election. or subject or attempt to subject any other person to the deprivation of the right to vote in any Federal election. "Deprivation of the right to vote" shall Include but shall not be limited to (1) the application to any person of standards or procedures more stringent than are applied to others similarly situated and (2) the denial to any person otherwise qualified by law of the right to vote on account of his performance in any examination. whether for literacy or otherwise. if such other person has not been adjudged incompetent and has completed the sixth primary grade of any public school or accredited private school in any State or territory. the District of Columbia. or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. "."Federal elections" means any general. special. or primary election held solely or in part for the purpose of electing or selecting any candidate for the office of President.