Voting Rights Act Renewed By Senate; But, For Cornyn, Comments Speak Louder Than His Vote

Yesterday, the United States Senate renewed the 1965 Voting Rights Act without dissent, and without any changes.

That’s a good thing.

The bad thing, though, is that Texas’ junior senator would rather not have seen that happen.

Cornyn wanted to amend the Act. But, he saw that even his own party had decided to contain its wingnuts (Cornyn included), and decided not to take that course:

“I decided that any amendments would be defeated, so I decided not to offer any,” he said.

Here is another example of a member of Texas’ delegation to DC whom voters must hold accountable, in spite of his vote.

Though Cornyn voted “yes,” his mind was clearly in the “no” column Thursday. He believes we don’t need the important provisions of the Voting Rights Act that to this day are working to make sure that minority voters are not disenfranchised.

In coming elections, when Cornyn tells us that he voted for the Reauthorization of the VRA, we must remind him that his words speak louder than his vote:

Even so, Cornyn and some of his Republican colleagues in the House, mainly Southerners, believe the legislation is flawed.

“Is this bill that we will vote on today the very best possible product? I would have to say the answer to that is apparently not,” Cornyn said.

Cornyn and other Republicans complained about the “preclearance” requirement for changing election rules. They say their states should be freed from the rule because they have made great strides in reducing discrimination in voting.

When a redistricting plan crafted by a state legislature is declared unconstitutional because it violates the provisions of the Voting Rights Act, more strides need to be made.

While our state ranks second in the nation in the number of Section 2 complaints, more strides need to be made.

Yet, Senator Cornyn thinks a voting rights record that is more “marginally decent” than “outstanding” is just fine.

This we must remember, so Senator Cornyn does not forget.

Great strides have been made, that’s true; but there is still more we must do.

We need the VRA.

Bookmark It