Chairman. I have outlined the major provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. All are necessary if voting discrimination is to be truly wiped out in our land. There is one important omission. however. An amendment is needed to enfranchise American citizens of Puerto Rican origin who are required to take New York States literacy test. They should not be denied the right to vote merely because they are literate only in Spanish. rather than English. The Senate adopted48 to 19an amendment offered by Senator ROBERT F. KENNEDY. of New York. to prohibit the denial of the right to vote in any election of any person because of his inability to read. write. or understand English if he has successfully completed the sixth grade in a public or accredited private school in any State. territory. the District of Columbia. orthe Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in which the predominant classroom language was other than English.
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literacy test