Speech #910171665

Let us now return to our courts of law. Furthermore. H.R. 4249 prohibits the use of literacy tests in any state in the nation. The 1965 Act was directed at the discrimination against Negroes in southern states resuiting from use of literacy tests. However. it is becoming a wellknown fact that literacy tests have the effect of discriminating against all educationallydisadvantaged citizens. of all races and colors. As Attorney General John Mitchell stated during the Subcommittee hearings last July: "The widespread and increasing reliance on television and radio brings candidates and issues into the homes of almost all Americans. Under certain conditions. an understanding of the English language. and no more. is our national requirement for American citizenship. "Perhaps. more importantly. the rights of citizenship. in this day and age. should befreely offered to those for whom the danger of alienation from society is most severebecause they have been discriminated against in the past. because they are poor. and because they are undereducated. As responsible citizenship does not necessarily imply literacy. so responsible voting does not necessarily imply an education. Thus. it would appear that the literacy test is. at best. an artificial and unnecessary restriction on the right to vote." A recent study shows that. in general. states of the North and the West which have literacy tests have lower registration and turnout rates than those without literacy tests. It can be little doubted that literacy tests in all states that have them inhibit voting by minority group persons. A nationwide ban on literacy tests. as proposed in H.R. 4249. would add numbers of educationallydisadvantaged blacks and whites. MexicanAmericans. Puerto Ricans. and American Indians to the voting rolls.