Speech #910176877

Mr. President. the most serious thing that ever happened to the Constitution of the United States. in my humble judgment. was the fantastic decision of the Supreme Court in Katzenbach against Morgan. This case involved the validity of the act of Congress constituting a part of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 which undertook to nullify. in part. the literacy test embodied in the New York constitution. New York had a constitution which provided that no person could vote in New York unless he could read and write the English language. When the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was before the Senate. the Senate adopted an amendment which changed this test and provided that if a person had completed a sixth grade education in a school in Puerto Rico. he would be allowed to vote in New York. even though he could not read or write the English language. and even though the New York constitution said that he was not eligible to vote unless he could read and write the English language.