Speech #910329647

Congress may paint with a much broader brush than may this Court. which must confine itself to the judicial function of deciding individual cases and controversies upon individual records. Cf. Lassiter v. Northampton Election Board. supra. The findings that Congress made when it enacted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 would have supported a nationwide ban on literacy tests. Instead. at that time Congress chose to limit its attention to the geographic areas where immediate action seemed necessary." South Carolina v. Katzenbach. 383 U.S. 301. 328. Experience gained under the 1965 Act has now led Congress to conclude that it should go the whole distance.