LBJ's daughters op ed in NYT..."Don't dismantle the Voting Rights Act"

[madfloridian]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/07/opinion/07johnson.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

"Don't Dismantle the Voting Rights Act
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By LUCI BAINES JOHNSON and LYNDA JOHNSON ROBB
Published: July 7, 2006
"THE Voting Rights Act, signed into law on Aug. 6, 1965, by our father, President Lyndon Johnson, opened the political process to millions of Americans. The law was born amid the struggle for voting rights in Selma and Montgomery, Ala., which the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called "a shining moment in the conscience of man." By eliminating barriers, including poll taxes and literacy tests, that had long prevented members of minority groups from voting, the act became a keystone of civil rights in the United States.

Now, crucial provisions of this legislation are in jeopardy. Last month, Congress seemed set to renew expiring sections intended to prevent voter discrimination based on race or language proficiency. Instead, a group of House lawmakers opposed to those sections succeeded in derailing their consideration.

The Voting Rights Act prohibits discrimination in voting everywhere in the country. But it has a special provision, Section 5, intended for regions with persistent histories of discrimination. These states and localities must have their election plans approved by the Justice Department.

Since the act was last renewed, in 1982, the federal government has objected to hundreds of proposed changes in state and local voting laws on the basis of their discriminatory impact. In recent years, proposed election changes in Georgia, Texas and other states were blocked because they violated the act.

Yet states and localities are not subject to Section 5 forever. In order to gain exemption, they need only meet a set of clear standards proving that they have been in compliance with the law for 10 years and have not tried to discriminate against minority voters. In Virginia, for example, eight counties and three cities have been exempted from Section 5."

More at the link above.

[DURHAM D]

1. Good for those girls. eom

[MADem]

6. Those 'girls' are around the vintage of the Monkey!

Lynda was born in 44-ish, and Lucy around 46-47!

But good for them, anyway! I'm sure they feel young as girls, too!

[MissWaverly]

7. no comparison

I admire them for standing up, keep speaking truth to power - ladies. What they must think,
after they are the daughters of a president!

[pinto]

2. Kudos to them both. That legacy of LBJ and the Congress of the day

is well worth standing up for.

[KoKo]

3. A Big Toast to the Johnson Girls....!

:toast:

[originalpckelly]

4. In other news the Congress passed a highway beautification bill....

The bill says that Lyndon Johnson's daughters may not drive on the highway in a convertible with the top down. -- Robin Williams as Adrian Cronauer, Good Morning Vietnam

[CottonBear]

5. Which of DimSon's acts and laws will the twins support in the future?

:sarcasm:

[Cha]

8. Tax cuts for the top

1%..

[smokey nj]

10. Bush twins urge congress to lower drinking age to twelve?

[H2O Man]

9. Good for them!

I'm glad to see that.

[madfloridian]

11. Named after Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King.

"The reauthorization stalled in Congress is called the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006. Were he alive today, we believe President Johnson would be honored to have this bill named after such remarkable women. Its passage would be a fitting tribute to their collective efforts to expand the scope of civil rights and citizenship."