For the past 2 years New York City has been providing all voting and registration materials in both Spanish as we] as English. This is a result of a cour decision in Torres against Sachs brough by the Puerto Rican Legal Defense an( Educational Fund. The court found tha using Englishonly materials violated two provisions of the Voting Rights Act. tha. prohibiting the use of literacy tests an( that banning English language literacz tests for Puerto Ricans. We have foun that providing dual language material! is not only entirely workable. but are substantial assistance to many Spanisl speaking voters in New York. Title III oJ H.R. 6219 would extend this type of requirement to the entire country withoul need for further litigation. So it is as a representative of a jurisdiction covered by the Voting Rights Act that I speak to you today and urge you to renew the act for 10 years by adopting H.R. 6219. Time has been short since the original Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacteda mere 10 years. The time has been much shorter in which the essential section 5 preclearance provision have been properly and frequently used. and again. it was only in 1970 that the act was expanded. with the temporary ban on literacy tests included. I hope that all of my distinguished colleagues will join me in full support of all the provisions of the bill H.R. 6219. and oppose any attempts to alter the substantial strength and extended coverage of that bill.
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literacy tests