In audible conversations for thank you everyone for being here today. We know that its busy with many things happening tha but it is incredibly important that we be voting on basic and talk about voting and the basic tenets of our democracy in terms of Voting Rights. Every citizen who wants to vote is able to cast a vote must be at the top of congress agenda. At the local level many of us have heard stories about how difficult voting can be. Registering to vote in a place where they go to school or even functioning Voting Machines that lead to long lines and voters that need to get back to work, so they have to get up and leave their lives. Weve seen that over and over again. 2015 was the first president ial election and half century or the full Voting Rights act was not in effect. While some states and local communities have improved access to voting, others have restricted it often by targeting poor people and minority communities. The Supreme Court refused to hear on North Carolinas strict voter id law which was struck down as we know last year by the fourth u. S. Circuit court of appeals. In its decision to circuit said the law would target africanamericans with almost surgical precision. But we cant just count on backwards. Thats why certain democrats continue to call for a proactive legislative agenda to increase the opportunity for people to exercise their right to vote in our country. Our members have introduced legislation on election security, expanding Voter Registration, creating more opportunities for voters to cast their ballots. Chief among the proposals is the Voting Rights advancement act sponsored by my colleague senator leahy, cosponsored by the entire Senate Democratic caucus. Meanwhile, the administration continues to promote the unfounded narrative of widespread voter fraud. This is why im very disappointed. Thats why we are here doing our own hearing its the right to vote for tens of millions of americans. All of my colleagues care deeply about this and that leaders in their states. All of you are true leaders in the fight for democracy if we are honored to have you taking the time with us today. I would like to turn to my colleague from minnesota who is the Ranking Member on the Senate Rules Committee to say a few words. We have seen many of you sometime this week thank you for your advocacy. I am glad that you are able to have this discussion about what is happening with voting. We have seen into the court hass seems distinctly efforts to discriminate with surgical precision. Threehour lines in arizona, 100 to the nearest polling station in utah, voting id requirements in wisconsin, where we now know that it can be hard to get an ied in the first place. This isnt just going on in one state. This is a systematic effort across the country. And what did the administration do, they made things worse by establishing a socalled commission on Election Integrity. This is not about integrity when you look at what they are doing. And in fact to make things worse gathering information that many republicans states have spoken out against in a location, and one location that we try to avoid when we have the decentralized voting. So, i dont think that was an accident either. They are just simply making people concerned about voting and we heard in some states like colorado people actually took away their own registration because they didnt want to have the data shared. I know minnesota had the highest voter turnout and i know that the honorable tenets knows this but we had a voter turnout last year in any state and consistently. I have a bill to do that with senator tester and others individuals the bill and introducing that would require automatic voting registration state by state for eligible voters when they turn 18. These are not radical proposals, these are proposals we should support whether we are democrats, republicans because our democracy is founded on simple principles that citizens get to participate and we should be making it easier, not harder. Thank you very much. Weve asked senator Jeanne Shaheen to make some Opening Statements. Last week i know they were a part of this and what very much to get an up date. Thank you for completing this hearing. We hoped to be a part of that but they refused to allow us to have our testimony read as a part of this. The fact is on the Election Integrity that Commission Held a hearing last week and did exactly the opposite. It further misled americans about the electoral process and i think as many here would agree that the swiss assertions has zero evidence to support them. The vice chair of the commission did they call him where he made allegations about the election in New Hampshire and hillary clinton. They didnt understand the election law and was in maine. To lay the groundwork for the Voter Suppression law, we saw that at the hearing last week in New Hampshire. The people testifying before the panel recommended things like the thumb prints on voter ids, background checks before people would be allowed to register to vote. Americans lose trust when they questioned the validity without evidence. We talked about the interference and he said thats the two what happens when they undermined the process. I thought that this was important to repeat your taskedt with the integrity of the system sometimes you have nothing more important than the integrity of the process at the local level and to work to undercut or subvert or show the distrust is the highest level of injury that can be laid on a local election system and it points to the fact that we cannot overstate the dangers that are spreading this kind of misinformation. Its to intimidate the students, low income voters to persuade them from participating in the electoral process, so thank you to all of the witnesses that are here today to help us shed light on the real intent of the administration. I know senator wyden at some point wants to speak to his bill as well but we are going to turn now to the president of the Legal Defense fund, the naacp advocacy has worked tirelessly to expand democracy and eliminate the racial disparities. Welcome the president of the Leadership Conference on civil and human rights, promote and protect and the former head of the Civil Rights Division of the department of justice. Wendell anthony our great friend from detroit who has naacp are we still the largest chapter i believe we are and i know we have the largest annual dinner which you are welcome to attend any given time and their food is always hot. I havent figured this out. But it is a powerful dinner. In detroit and southeast michigan he has seen first hand the Voter Suppression. We are so pleased to have you with us. We will have a terrific panel. [inaudible] to all of those who thought it would be important to be here for this discussion in my brief statement i would like to provide context for the discussion today and explain why the current moment is urgent and the congressional action to restore the full protections of the Voting Rights act but also to address the issues we heard in the introduction from senator stabenow. And that is the right to go to the ability to participate in the political process. Weve been on the forefront since its founding in 1940, one of the earliest successes was Thurgood Marshall challenging the democratic primary in texas in 1944. Since that time, we have continued until today working on this issue that we regard as central to the citizenship of africanamericans. After the violent acts of terror in Charlottesville Perkins started a National Conversation about White Supremacy. I dont think i heard that word as much in my life and i think that is a good thing in that conversation is long overdue. Its been somewhat encouraging. Political leaders have a repugnant course for American Life to prosecute hate groups those are appropriate and welcome but incomplete we cannot have it all conversation without also talking about the right to vote and we cannot defeat White Supremacy until Congress Acts to ensure the state sponsored discrimination is between voters of color and the polls. Its always been essential to the american White Supremacy for decades state and local jurisdictions suppressed the boats with taxes, literacy tests and needlessly confusing registration requirements. Today they use the strict voter id laws for the citizenship requirements its the same in different forms. Since 2014 thereve been at least ten federal Court Decisions finding that state or local governments intentionally discriminated against africanamericans and other voters of color when acting legislation. This is a watershed moment in the country. Legislators and county convening and passing laws for the purpose of disenfranchising american voters. I submitted the full list for the record of the cases from texas, louisiana, wisconsin, North Carolina and the Fourth Circuit decision referred to earlier. We have to this of course the president ial Election Integrity commission thats already been discussed is the subject of seven lawsuits and we also the attorney general Jeff Sessions who pulled back on the prosecution of proven intentional discrimination in voting. We are witnessing a kind of perfect storm in which for the first time the federal government through this Integrity Commission and the attorney general also openly hostile to the Voting Rights and supporting Voter Suppression. Federal courts are taking the time deciding the cases and states of cores are doing with the Reconstruction Congress knew they could do when they use the language in the amendment no state shall where states are prohibited from. The creamer is not only puts limits on state conduct to undermine the citizenship of africanamericans, they included enforcement clauses in the amendment, interesting view, Congress Committee authority to enforce the rights to give full citizenship to africanamerica africanamericans. In 1965 a Bipartisan Congress responded with an act between 50 years as the most effective civil rights statute in the history but now we need so much more. We need the activities restored and a legislation many of you sponsored that will expand voting. We need the oversight and the department of justice and to look closely at the commission and appropriation for the commissions work and we need you to speak regularly, loudly and clearly about the importance of the right to vote for every american. Thank you. With the of bipartisan enforcement in the past in the Justice Department reversed a longstanding position that was is racially he discovered tory intentionally but they did a poll that finding the june on the very same day they sent to an unprecedented letter asking for extensive information to maintain their role ahead with the Randolph Institute case to reverse the position of arguing it should be easier for states to remove registered voters for the rehab the President Trump socalled commission on integrity that is to set up be absurd allegations that millions have voted illegally. We know the commission was to restrict the right to vote it tells you everything you need to know that have devoted to Voter Suppression efforts and in fact, last week one was identified as the center of the email to the Justice Department urging democrats or republicans we permitted to serve on the commission this is for everyone to see to create a National Database but those of us that value price b6 privacy and security that is why so many would speak out so now we have mounted a nationwide effort to discredit that commission and we appreciate the efforts you are making with that strategy also the of crusade goes against the agenda tomorrow the Senate Judiciary committee holds of hearing for North Carolina we would urge a the senators to approve that and their pieces of home that they have locally been in support of with the democracy restoration act where we have seen a lot of momentum that has been bipartisan bill we are seeing that we need a fully funded 2020 census with the civilrights issues that is essential to voting representation for all americans a were working hard to ensure there is a fair appropriation and there is of the year against immigrant communities to close the monitor those coming out of the Justice Department and youll have those timely responses to your letters and we are fully behind you to do everything we can to ensure everybody is protected. Thank you for all of you to hold this hearing one of the of prime benefits of this hearing is that they do not have pope and because of what we see nationally today and that Freedom Fighter from a rally in upstate new york with an elderly white gentleman mean about as much to be as a fleet buzzing around the we are and of an elephant. Ion guaranteed to keep you scratching. We are here to keep a scratching from our determined efforts suppose those schemes for their right to vote what we have seen on a National Level as a matter of fact they depress the people and just last year have a strenuous voter i. D. Lot. And the individual would have then to do so within resulting in a disqualification it is hard enough to get the two votes theyre not going to come back to days after the election and with that implementation to result in the citizens of the Africanamerican Community not being eligible to vote that is acceptable to the state. And then to bring back others to the table. This 13 member independent Citizens Commission and. In this is one of of biggest scams so the fact that this committee is composed of follow those quite frankly for the most part but they do know that recently basically it will suppress some of those young people by exercising their right to vote making it more difficult to get to the post. Is important we consistently have and update and engage from 2017 to report to and restore. We urge the house and senate to support us a 14 and 90 in among those they think are important to cover states that are practicing discrimination. And those that our most likely to impact people of color those that would allow those rejoining of district lines. With that gerrymandering for crow to put a bill on the ballot to allow west to let those district lines not by the politician but the local community so the essence of social and the media and texting and facebook and snap chat. Twitter your vote is eight weeks away and instagram you can change your future. There was a recent audit the trade was accused of voter fraud but there was none. There was some training that needs to occur. Increase time allowed to participate early in then to implement within the educational system in the American Democratic process. So the of the tests must not be placed on Political Party or ideology but civic duty. Generations ago a the greatness of america is it more than any other nation but to repair thoughts and it is time to repair our thoughts. Finigan for those comments. Good to have you with us. Also for conducting this critically important hearing at this time. The mission is to promote civil rights we will celebrate the 50th anniversary next year in 2018 to focus on the vote in securing access to the about to the ballot we join our colleagues to condemn that Integrity Commission but like many of these allegations because of that projected growth often it is the target to suppress votes for those that divide the community of a meaningful vote. We urge you to look at funding and vice a bias to show they cannot engage. That is documented as ufo sighting. But to focus on that latino experience with the lack of preclearance coverage and importance of california. We had to redouble our efforts to challenge the systems and in some cases for those texas voter identification to those to direct efforts elsewhere. With the overall goal of preserving Voting Rights. The city of pasadena anatexis very shortly after the Shelby County decision decided to change the structure of government. Without those six members elected and it undertook that change pretty quickly with a growing Latino Community and to control the city council. But only through the arduous and expensive pretrial preparation and. And then to have that in effect of the Latino Community. It resulted subjecting a jurisdiction but it took much work and cost to achieve that and. Wi