LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
Paul Duke intro report on passage of a Voting Rights Act.
LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
Cokie Roberts with report on Voting Rights Act. Debate over Voting Rights Act - controversy of a provision that would require areas with "history" of voting discrimination to clear all election law changes with Federal Justice Department.
LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
Representative Robert Garcia (D - New York) The fact is I am a product of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
Representative Gus Savage (D - Illinois) Don t change the rules when we have just recently gained a seat at the table.
LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
Representative Louis Stokes (D - Ohio) I cannot conceive of any more precious right, than the right to vote.
LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
Shot of House podium. Several Representatives speaking on the floor, including Representative Henry Hyde (R - Illinois).
LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
Representative Henry Hyde (R - Illinois), in office, says it seemed wrong for states to have to get federal approval for law changes. It seemed to me quite wrong that a sovereign state would have to get the permission from a bureaucrat in Washington to change their laws.
LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
Representative Henry Hyde (R - Illinois), bench of House Judiciary Committee. Shots of people testifying before committee, including Vernon Jordan. Hyde speaking over these shot, describes how he was convinced to vote for the bill. It started off with the celebrity witnesses, the Vernon Jordans and the Benjamin Hooks and the Jesse Jacksons and it s interesting to hear their perspective and get to know these people firsthand. But the real nitty-gritty came from the individuals in the South whose voting rights had been denied. We heard statistics about South Carolina where they have about a 39% Black population and not a single Black State Senator. These things have a cumulative effect and after a while you say the 15 Amendment which guarantees the people s right to vote, regardless of their color or race was really not being enforced.
LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
Shot of Speaker Pro Tem on House floor podium. Representative Henry Hyde (R - Illinois) arguing on the House floor against some stricter provisions of the act. Do you mean to say there is only one building, only one geographic location where sensitivity to voting rights acts reside and that is right here in the District of Columbia?
LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
Walter Fauntroy (D - Congressional Delegate for Washington DC), arguing for these provisions. Certainly you would not want the questions of bail out handled by a 3 judge court, say in Sumter, South Carolina, which has been frustrating the efforts of the Justice Department now for 14 years.
LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
Shots of the House floor podium. Representative Robert Garcia (D - New York) arguing amendments to weaken the bill ignore the facts that voting rights of minorities are not well protected. The only place that we can go today that we know is going to be truly bi-partisan, truly look at the record as it is, is in the District of Columbia. And I would suggest to those members, those members on that side on the aisle, who come from states where they have a large minority population, that they should look at the facts the way they are. - I certainly yield to my friend from Illinois. Representative Henry Hyde (R - Illinois) responding angrily, gets personal on Representative Robert Garcia. I suggest that my friend became a Congressman with a total of 32,173 votes. If that s participation, I m Mark Twain. Representative Robert Garcia (D - New York) responding, says HYDE always votes against the poor, HYDE'S votes responsible for the decline of voter rolls in GARCIA'S district. My friend, I will continue. If this Congress and the administrations before had been receptive to all people, I never would have lost that population. And I say to you as a member of this body, as one how is constantly voted against the poor being able to rebuild their communities, you should not take the floor and talk about my loss in population. Representative Henry Hyde (R - Illinois) defends his record on supporting the poor. I move that the gentleman s words be taken down. He said I constantly voted against the poor and I voted for every HEW budget that comes down the pike. And the Voting Rights Act of 1975, I voted for as well. Representative Robert Garcia (D - New York) continues, agrees to withdraw his remarks. Mr. Chairman, if I may. The gentleman from Illinois may have a point. This is an emotional period for all of us, for both the gentleman from Illinois Speaker Pro Tem, Unanimous consent to withdraw the words
LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
Representative Henson Moore (R - Louisiana), rails at sanctimonious Yankees for telling Louisiana how to conduct its business. I appreciate all me sanctimonious brethren coming in, telling me how to run the voting rights in our states, when they don t have any where near the voter participation or the registration we have in mine.
LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
Shot of House floor podium. v.o.-the most heated debate over a provision to require bilingual voting materials. Representative Mickey Leland (D - Texas) starting a speech in Spanish. Representative Millicent Fenwick asks him to yield in Spanish. Representative Jim Wright (D - Texas), defending bilingual voting materials, compares U.S. culture, and Congress, to a fruitcake, draws laughs. And that s what it s all about. And that s as American as apple pie, or let me say that s just as American as tamales or matzah ball soup. It s as American as all these things that go to make up this polyglot culture of ours. And we don t have to be all the same. We don t all come out in a single stream of sameness like ores poured into a melting pot, we come out a little bit more like a fruit cake, with each one of us giving to it, each one of us giving a little bit of his own flavor to the whole, but each retaining a little bit of the integrity of his own identity.
LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
Representative Henry Hyde (R - Illinois) says that the Senate might chip away at the bill. They may want to have a very hard bill, a very tough bill and then be able to retreat a little bit and emerge with what they will accept. My strategy was different. I would have liked to have gone in there enthusiastically supporting this bill and have Congressman from South Carolina like Carroll Campbell, Congressmen from Mississippi like Trent Lott, and some more from Louisiana, we call join hands and say look this is a product we re proud of, we believe in and Senators, we hope you ll agree with us. That was our hope.
LAWMAKERS - October 8, 1981
Paul Duke and Cokie Roberts in studio; disc. of Senate potential, especially since Strom Thurmond is chair of Senate Judiciary Committee.