However. in at least three cases the differences are significant. In one. that dealing with the voting rights of Spanishspeaking citizens. the conference has adopted the Senate language for which I have been fighting for so long. Section 4(e) of the conference bill allows a prospective voter to qualify. without taking a literacy test. by demonstrating that he has completed the sixth grade. or whatever grade the State requires. in a school under the American flag. without regard to whether that school was conducted in English. Mr. Speaker. my colleagues will no doubt remember that. at the very beginning of the House debate on the voting rights bill. I urged that H.R. 6400 be amended to include this provision. I noted that. without it. hundreds of thousands of American citizens. residing in New York. but educated in Puerto Rico. are being arbitrarily disenfranchised. merely because of New Yorks States English language literacy test. Chairman CELLER immediately responded and assured me that he would accept the provision. Unfortunately. the amendment was narrowly defeated in the House.
Keywords matched
literacy test