Good morning. I thank all of you for being here today good morning, today we are examining our nations history of Voter Suppression. As well as the obstacles that many minority communities continue to face to this day. And in exercising their fundamental right to vote. Tomorrow we will be holding a ceremony to honor our dear friend and colleague and our former chairman, Elijah Cummings. We will be remaining in disappearing room after him and commending everything he stood for. Todays hearing is also part of our effort to honor his legacy. Protecting the right to vote was one of the most important issues. If not the most important issue he fought for during his decades in Public Service. We are holding this hearing in february during black historymonth. It was black americans whose voices were stifled, blocked in silence for centuries and is black americans who are still being disproportionately targeted, even now in shameful efforts to prevent them from registering to vote , purging their names from the voter files and making it harder for them to exercise their rights under the constitution. Last february, chairman cummings a similar hearing, one of the first he called after becoming chairman of this committee. And heexplained his vision for our , i would like to lay a clip from the hearing. I believe that we should be doing everything in our power to make it easier for eligible american citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote. Not making it harder. We should be making it more convenient, not less. We should be encouraging more people to cast their votes, not fewer. We should be promoting early voting, as the voting. Voting by mail other ways to help citizens pass thereabouts. Not rolling back these very important programs. That is a northstar that everyone in this nation should agree with. On thisdate , 151 years ago , Congress Passed the 15th amendment declaring the right of citizens to vote shall not be denied on account of race. That was the beginning of a long and deadly struggle to ensure that all american citizens can cast their votes. This year is also the 55th anniversary of the Voting Rights act of 1965 and the 55th anniversary of blood he someday when hundreds of peaceful civil rights marchers were beaten on the Edmund Pettis bridge in selma alabama. The effortsof civil rights pioneers , some of whom are with us today helped millions of americans exercise their right to. Unfortunately today many states are attacking the right to vote using tactics similar to those of civil rights and ears addled for decades. Last year under chairman cummings leadership and also that of congressman raskin, the committee launched an investigation of allegations in three key states, georgia, texas and kansas. Today we are releasing him of the documents and information we obtain as part of that investigation. For example, in georgia secretary of state brian kemp urged more than half 1 million votes from the rolls and block the registrations of thousands more. All while running for governor area emails obtained by the Committee Show that mister kemp and a top Campaign Aide congratulated each other for confusing the publicabout their illegal voter roll purges. And they also gleefully celebrated as they made it harder for hundreds of thousands of americans to vote. They even used laughing and smiling emojis in a sickening display of duration. We also examine texts which threatened thousands of americans with thrift criminal prosecution from voting illegally only to be forced to reverse course when it was revealed that many if not all were us citizens every right to cast their ballots. Finally, we examined kansas which moved the one and only polling site in the entire city of dodge city kansas outside the city limits without bothering to consult with the local voters. Dodge city has a population of more than 25,000 and they consistpredominantly of minorities. Unfortunately, these are not the only instances of discrimination Voter Suppression area for example, North Carolina has an extremely restrictive voter id law, but the Fourth Circuitstruck down , worried that would target africanamericans with almost surgical precision. These abuses must end and the house of representatives has taken action to stop them. Last year the house passed to landmark bills to protect Voting Rights. Hr one, before the people act would reduce barriers to voting through automatic registration, sameday voting and registration and expanded early voting. Hr 4 would restore and modernize the Voting Rights act, protect against discriminatory voting practices. Unfortunately senator Mitch Mcconnell has refused four months to allow the senate to vote on these bills. Communities across america need to mobilize now to protect the right to votein the upcoming elections. Every american can take action today to make sure there Voter Registration is active, to learn about their options for early or absentee voting and to find their pollingsites. I would like to close where i began and are hearing a year ago, last february. During that hearing chairman cummings told the story about how he sat with his mother on her deathbed and this is what she said to him and i would like to show this moving clip now. On my mothers dying bed, 92 years old, former sharecropper, her last words were not let them take our votes away from us. They had fought, she had fought andseen people armed , beaten, trying to vote. Talk about inalienable rights. Voting is crucial and i dont give a damn how you look at it. There are efforts to stop people from voting. Thats not right. This is not russia. This is the United States of america. Like his mother, chairman cummings has now passed on his spirit is still here with us in this hearing as he urges us with moral clarity to protect and defend the core of our democracy. I want to thank all of you for coming today, i want to thank all our witnesses for being here. I look forward to your historic testimony and i now recognize the distinguished Ranking Member, mister jordan for his opening statements. Iq madam chair and i want to thank you for your kind words about our former chairman and i would echo those sentiments area we all appreciate the work of chairman cummings over the years and his time in congress and his timeout of congress, the great things he was involved in and causes was involved in four, and i would urge all my colleagues to be here tomorrow afternoon when this room will be dedicated to the lake chairman. And were also going to thank you for calling this hearing and thank you for all our witnesses are here today. We like to vote in free and Fair Elections is a bedrock principle of democracy, various constitutional limits the right to vote has been extended to all citizens , regardless of race, color and age requirements, has been roller lord actually to, the most recent expansion took place in 1986 when Congress Passed a law allowing servicemembers to vote while staying overseas. These actions to improve Voting Rights are important but we must remember voting has traditionally been and should remain a state and local responsibility some groups argue voting is too hard, is too complicated, the supplication drive voters away but this study contradicts these claims. According to the study only eight percent of nonvoters that they did not have time to make it to the polls and only five percent said they did not vote because they were nonregistered. Traditionally only percent said they did not quote because it was too complicated and three present said taking the registration process would motivate them to vote read at almost 90 percent of voters surveyed by the knight foundation. Said that voting was easy. A state work to ensure that accessibility is care we should not forgetabout rex to the Election Integrity , we must ensure every eligible citizen vote is counted that votes are not stolen or diluted through voter fraud. Today, the democrats are going to try to paint a picture of massive Voter Suppression. By releasing 13 cherry picked documents from over 1. 3 million pages in their monthlong investigation into the 2018 midterm elections, is 80 documents are a coordinated attempt to suppress minority voters. These minority votes but they do not. These documents Election Officials attempting to ensure honest and secure elections. But its what their job is, thats their responsibility. They show these individual entering only citizens are voting by ensuring eligible voters on the voter role and taking any allegations of cybercrime recently area and one of the most backward allegations, the democrats argued the state of georgia should not have Authority Regarding a potential attack. They argue because georgia did not produce proof of the attack , that the doctor that plane is ridiculous, the Georgia Bureau of investigation is looking into the matter and Cyber Security experts unanimously found was an attempt to reach the voter rolls. The release of the documents is simply a smokescreen to distract from serious issues in our election went voter fraud. The 2018 california falsely registered 23,000 voters including almost 2000 noncitizens read no minor issue, 22,000 votes could have changed the outcome of the 2016 president ial election in michigan, or nevada. In new york there have been 25 convictions for voter fraud related offenses putting registrations and duplicate voting, in maryland there have been preconditions and i can go on and on, voter fraud is an issue that the address therein any discussion about relaxing voter requirements should include how states are going to defend against voter fraud. I hope we can discuss this important aspect here today as well. I would like to thank all eyewitnesses for being here today and we look forward to your testimony. Thank you medicare and i yelled back. I will now recognize mister meadows to see about our dearfriend chairman cummings. Thank you medicare thank you for your leadership. I want to thank all the witnesses are being here and for your testimony that youre about to give. But i want to take just a couple of minutes to talk about my good friendchairman cummings. When you get to see a video of his passion and his willingness to engage. What comes to my mind the most about my good friend Elijah Cummings was to work. Fairness and compassion. Those two words not only were emblematic of friendship that the two of us had there was also a characteristic in a way that he conducted himself as chairman and as Ranking Member and i had the privilege to serve with him in both of those capacities. And hes one that always wanted to make sure that person who didnt have a voice had a voice here in washington dc. So you being here today certainly highlights that area but i want to make sure that we do because the other thing he was always willing to do is to cut the chase. We would have our private offices were just diagonal from one another down the hallway here. And i would go in and being the member with less seniority, i would always go to the member with more seniority, i would go to his office and we would sit down and we would have refract conversations on what legislation could mean, what did mean and the political ramifications. So heres what i would add. In a spirit of being two words or my good friend, effective and efficient, what i would love to hear from all the Witnesses Today are the ways that we can be most effective and efficient with legislation to make sure that every vote is counted and every individual has the opportunity to vote. So many times what we do is we tried to put a big narrative based on real problems, but based on problems that maybe isolated here or there and we tried but big narrative on it. And what i would ask all of you to do is in honoring my good friend Elijah Cummings, give specific examples on what you think we could do from a federal standpoint to help address any issue that is discriminatory or that disenfranchises any people who are here and i thank you medicare for your leadership and i look forward to hearing from our witnesses, i kneeled back. Thank you, today i am honored to turn to harvesting with holly from the district of columbia, congresswoman Eleanor Holmes norton to introduce our witnesses. Congresswoman norton is a civil rights legend in her own right. As a young woman she was a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a Civil Rights Organization founded by young student activists including two of our distinguished witnesses diane aTimothy Jenkins. Congresswoman norton fostered civil rights as a student. As head of the new york City Civil Rights Commission and as the first woman to chair the us equal employment opportunitycommission. She has continued to champion these charges, these causes here in the United States and throughout the world as a lawyer, a scholar and since 1991 as our colleague in the us house of representatives, i recognized the distinguished representative from the district. I thank my good friend chairwoman maloney for her very generous words concerning me but i thank her most of all for giving me an opportunity to introduce the Witnesses Today. This is normally the work of the chair of the committee. Two of these witnesses were directly engaged in work to assure that there would be no state obstacles to the right to vote and they must be very proud how that work has in fact benefited millions of americans. They were in the core and the thick of the Civil Rights Movement. My only regret is that our colleague john lewis who though not a member of this committee would certainly be here today if he could. He of course, john of course was chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and i do want to note anumber of our colleagues is in the audience , read chris and also an alumni of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee i first met in mississippi. These witnesses will have only five minutes because of course rules of the committee so i hope particularly the witnesses who can give us perspective on what weve got to do now in renewing the Voting Rights act can talk about their own role so that we have something to compare what were going through today in Voter Suppression with what they experience as student activists because their perspective from that training to invest in our work in combating obstacles we face now in the house in ruling the Voting Rights act. So im pleased to introduce our witnesses, they will be reverend doctor williambarber , the president of repairers of the breach and cochair of the Poor Peoples Campaign. Brian , civil rights leader and one of the Founding Members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Tim jenkins, also my law School Classmates and a Founding Member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, an attorney and an activist and currently serves on the boards of teaching for change the Civil Rights Movement archive. Finally, Marcia Johnson blank off is the codirector of the Voting Rights project for the Lawyers Committee for civil rights. Thank you very much madame chair. Thank you very much and we had hoped that john would be so i now ask unanimous consent to place on the record his statement so he is certainly here with his leadership and in spirit. Thank you and i will begin now by swearing in the witnesses if you will all please riseand raise your right hand. Do you swear to affirm that the testimony you are about to give is the truth, whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god . Let the record show the witnesses answered in the affirmative. Please be seated. Microphones are sensitive so please pull them to you and speak directly into it and without objection your written statement will be made part of the record and with that Mister Jenkins , you are now recognized provider testimony. Beheading for todays hearing, learning from the past to protect our future. I would add my subtext, of writing todays echoes of past political exclusion. My name is Timothy Jenkins and in 1960, i was as mentioned, one of the Founding Members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee commonly referred to as initial slate. I served as chief lobbyist before the United States was the beatles was desperate surrounding the drafting of the ultimate passage of the civil rights, Voting Rights act of 1965 im here today to advocate needed additional legislati