Well, the good news is that they voted to extend it (it still has to go up before the full House though), but the sad--but not bad--news is what it went through to get there.
What was to have been a simple renewal of the historic Voting Rights Act has become snarled in the heated debate involving immigration issues.
Conservative House members tried Wednesday to end a requirement in the 1965 law that bilingual ballots and interpreters be provided in states and counties where large numbers of citizens speak limited English.
The House Judiciary Committee rejected the effort.
Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said voting in English should pose no problem for any U.S. citizen.
"If you are born in America, you should know English," he said. "If you are a naturalized citizen, you should have passed an English proficiency test."
The committee voted 26-9 against amending the law, which ended racist practices such as poll taxes and literacy tests in Southern states, so it no longer would require the bilingual ballots and interpreters. The chairman, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., expressed regret that the immigration and voting rights issues had become enmeshed.
Later, the committee voted 33-1 to extend the law, due to expire next year, for 25 more years. Only Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, who offered the amendment to strike the bilingual ballots, voted against it.
Republicans voted 11-9 against King's amendment. Democrats opposed it unanimously.
"At a time when the U.S. is experiencing record immigration, it is essential that we return to this tradition" of using ballots only in English, King said.
Seriously, WTF.
In an odd sort of way, it was Sensenbrenner who offered a bit of common sense to this.
Sensenbrenner noted that Spanish is spoken in Puerto Rico, and that many people from that territory settle on the mainland.
"They are just as much U.S. citizens as anybody else," he said. "...I believe they should have access to bilingual ballots."
Welcome to Bizarro World, where Sensenbrenner utters something intelligent!
Tags: [H.R. 9], [Voting Rights Act], [Voting Rights Act renewal becomes entangled with immigration issue], [Steve King], [James Sensenbrenner], [Lamar Smith], [26-9 against amending the law, which ended racist practices such as poll taxes and literacy tests in Southern states, so it no longer would require the bilingual ballots and interpreters]
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