something comes out of dubai, something we like our do not like. what is the next up in the u.s. government pose a review -- review of the outcome of this revision? >> thank you very much. >> thank you. the treaty was brought before the senate for consent. ratification. -- contempt -- constant and ratification. they have a delegation -- the head of the delegation, will come at the end of the dubai conference, all things being acceptable, will sign what is referred to as the final pact, the document which has been

translated into six languages. it has gone through a number of iterations at the conference. the head of the delegation will sign those final act. then, there, in batted in them, is a date -- imbedded in them is a date coming into force. from the united states point of view, the document does not come into force until it has been fully processed through the ratification. with regard to the coming into force date, we will bring the document back. we will then go through the process by which the department reviews it and the white house has reviewed it, and then it will go forward to the senate

for advice and consent and follow the usual pattern of the treaty and that i've been done for the 88 version. >> ok. another question. i will call on this gentleman here. we for the microphone. while you are getting the microphone, we have some other questions i want to ask, and as just one question, the one with four or five different sub- parts. >> thank you. following upon the point about making proposals available i would like to have ongoing access and i think a lot of people would. is there any thought to posting proposals that come in after august 3, especially government proposals? >> i am not in a position to give you the impression that with the statement -- with a statement on my part, something

will happen immediately in terms of giving you access. what i can say is we intend to raise this as an issue in in july, july 2 through july 14, s to public access to the proposals. i am taking your comment, and the comments of colleagues in geneva a couple of weeks ago. the united states will prepare a position to find some way to make those documents public. now, let me leave it at that. i think it is best to leave you with the impression that we will be raising that point, but it is not something we can do individually or as a unique country. we have to do it within the context of 47 other countries.

>> i do think the issue of transparency in international policy making is becoming a huge issue, and not just here. it is a huge issue for my organization and trade organizations where we are trying to get access and we are told that is not the way we do things and we are negotiating, so we cannot do xyz. i think the mindset has to change. these issues have become so important to the way that we live our lives than doing it under the cover of a flight -- night is no longer acceptable, so i appreciate the effort to make the process more open. i hope you put the same effort into getting our u.s. trade representative to be as transparent. [laughter] >> anyone else with that

question? if not, i will go to this person here. just wait for the microphone. >> my name is andrea. i am a senate staffer. i am hoping there could be a tag-team on this question. i read the piece in "the wall street journal. you alluded to the fact that there was a lack of leadership on this issue from the u.s., and it sounded like the obama administration and the state department were looking forward to these talks in gaining traction. i was wondering if you could clarify that. second, you had said that with the countries in the member states that everyone was fearful of losing sovereignty and that was something you wanted to protect, but when i read the piece, you had said -- i am

losing my train thought now. it seems like a majority of member countries were looking into these regulations, and based on how it happens in the u.n., the u.s. does not have a the dough, -- end. i was wondering if you could expand on those >> thank you. which senate office are you with? ok. there was an 800-word op-ed in "the wall street journal" and one sentence was the state a fact that they had had not been appointed. there is as much concerned that the entities have not organized themselves. i was in europe in november and there was a great deal of panic among the private sector and

non-governmental groups, but not a lot of organization, so i immediately encourage them to organize themselves just as i did other governments. cell, it is what it is -- so, it is what it is whether or not we have a head, and for the folks watching on c-span, when you think about career federal employees, i want you to think about dick beard. this guy is a big deal on the international stage. you walk into meetings with international diplomats and he is known by of them. i think his body is coded in -- coded in graphite. he is incredibly talented. there is a team that is working on this regardless of whether or not there is a head of delegation. there is no sunlight between

republicans, democrats, left and right, so i think it is important to stick to the substance. we have six months to go before dubai, but more importantly we have years to go. we need to make this a sustained organized effort to make sure the internet is governed by a multi stakeholder model and not a top-down regime. i will let dr. beard speak about the majority aspect of itu -- hysterically it has been governed by a consensus. there is the general thrust where it has been adopted by voter blocs. there were some in this room telling me last year that there were maybe up to 90 countries support of in general of granting more authority to the itu in this area.

if we do not ratify the treaty, we do not abide to it, but i wanted to give the sense of how much support there was, someone and 90 -- 90's. maybe then as -- somewhere in the nine people perished in the that has receded or ground. .> -- 90's maybe that has receded or grown. >> did you want to read anything? >> i will leave his comment on the leadership issue there. we are looking forward to the head of the delegation are arriving shortly. the ambassador has offered considerable leadership in this area. we are always looking for the head of delegation and we will welcome that person. on the sovereignty issue, as a

historical matter, they have been remarkable in the fact there are very few votes at the events such as this treaty conference. i have witnessed a number of them, but it is not a vote, not an institution and that relies on votes for decisions. it relies upon consensus. i think in part success has been echoed to the effected we're talking about communications. communications relies upon the consent of those that are communicating. there is such a considerable interest to globally in sustaining, maintaining, and growing robust communications that consensus seems to flow. sometimes it is not easy. it takes late hours, and sometimes in the last four days it will no doubt be around the

clock, but a consensus will emerge. let's hope that is going to be the case in dubai. it will also follow that in order for that to happen the results are going to be -- have to be a high level of principle, and as a matter of scale probably will not succeed much more than what is currently the nine pages in order for it to succeed. i will leave it as that. >> next. scott had a question. i will call on you next, but in the meantime, i know jackie when she spoke initially talked about the fact that the regulations could possibly affect the commercial success of the internet and all of the enterprise that takes place.

obviously, that is an important part of the internet as well. i've talked about some of the social and free speech aspects. jackie, i thought is, briefly, you could just elaborate if you have in mind particular concerns, and how they might dampen or impact the internet, as it is used to promote economic prosperity, i guess is the best way to put it. >> sure. a number of those points were mentioned by different speakers. so, i think it is everything from -- at the beginning, i sometimes talk about it as bookends kid at one end you have what is the definition of what these -- bookends. had won the toll it is what is the definition they cover. at the other end, it is what is the enforcement mechanism for

rules? there are proposals for there to be inter-governmental dispute resolution mechanisms, then, of course, you have the meat of the proposals in the middle, all of which the country, and therefore binding as treaty. therefore, in the middle you have things from the cyber security proposal. you might think of as a barrier to the freedom of expression, but it is also a barrier to the internet from janine for the economic and social benefits. cyber security, ways of looking at spam, fraud, etc. -- the topics are understandable. there is a reason to be concerned about them, but the mechanisms to address them tend to be inclusive. it is important to figure out the concerns, and figure out ways to get at them. the final one that has been mentioned by several speakers is

that the internet is a network of networks, handing off traffic through handshake, informal agreements, and to turn that into a regulated exchange will create all sorts of distortions of the system and complexity. i hope that is a good summary. >> yes. thank you. dick, we mentioned your boss, ambassador philip, and it calls to mind that i had the privilege of serving with him three decades ago at the fcc, and most of you would not know this. fortunately for you you are too young to know it, but within a short time span i was at the fcc, phil surged as chief of the cable bureau, the broadcast

bureau, and in the common carrier bureau. i was still trying to find out where the eighth floor was. he had filled all of those positions at a bully. so, he is a terrific -- abley. so, he is a terrific example. >> yes, it is a non-transparent process. are there process points, crunch time, two or three we should pay attention to as to whether this is going in a good or bad direction as we watch from the outside? >> the council meeting in july, july 3, until approximately the 14th where the chairman of the council working groups' report will be reviewed. it will not be changed, but it will be reviewed so you can see

the entirety of the two-year effort going into the conference, and it will contain a compilation of the items in dealing with each part of the current itr's. that is one date. i would look hack attack -- at after august, for the proposals. the first proposals need to begin august 3. we will be watching them very carefully as well. then, periodically, and we could of course help you understand when that is, but periodically when the regional proposals start coming in. regions will continue to meet through september and perhaps into early-october. our region has its last meeting in september, prior to the conference where we will finalize inter-american proposals going into the conference. then, all the way off to the two

weeks prior to conference, the absolute drop-dead date for contributions coming in prior to the conference. so, all along that time we will see contributions coming in, and just to underscore, one should never forget about the regional groups. there are six, and each will make a proposal as well. >> ok. we have time, i think, only for one more question if we have one. so, while i am looking around or while you might be thinking, if there is another one, i want to acknowledge again that we are privileged to have to the u.n. ambassadors with us. mickey gardener who is here, and and the other ambassador is ambassador david gross, who served in fill revere's position in the previous administration

to i think the ambassador perhaps holds the record, -- phil revers's position in the peace administration, and i think he holds the record for longest serving ambassador. we were colleagues in a law firm, so i was excited when he became ambassador gross, but surely after he left, i thought that maybe he would just be plain, old david again, but he quickly informed me that once you have been an ambassador commodity you our ambassador for life. so, every year when i do my holiday cards, i have to remember that it is ambassador gross because he told me about that as he was walking out the state department door that last time.

ok. david says it was his wife. we are privileged to have both of these ambassadors with us today. ok. is there one last question? it is over here. this will be the last one. go ahead, identify yourself please. >> i wanted first of all to thank everyone for such a wonderful panel. this is one of the first times -- i was a tremendous position to learn a lot of new facts, and hopefully everyone on a -- everyone here as well. >> identify yourself. >> sari. aksana. my head is -- my question is different. the head of the itu speaks russian frigid russian fleet,

and -- speaks russian fluid, and he told vladimir putin that he will represent the russian federation and the itu. is that a concern that he seems to be fluent in russian, and staff as he is his comrade -- and says he is his comment? -- comrade? >> ok. i guess that is for dick or commissioner -- anyone want to respond? >> the secretary general from mali was first elected as head of the development bureau in 1998 and subsequently in eight years was elected to secretary general, and was reelected in 2010 in guadalajara. he is of the generation of

african leaders, many of whom did study in the soviet union. he does speak russian. he claims it is not fluent, but it is sufficient for him to earn a ph.d. out of moscow state university. he met his wife in russia who is also from mali, but as he points out, and i think it is important in this case, all peoples biographies are complicated -- he spent 12 years of his life in the united states and two of his children are americans. he spent 12 years as an engineer. beyond that, i will let him speak to his own biography. >> ok. that sounds like good advice from a diplomat. [applause] [laughter] >> ok. , look -- look, i think it is

pretty amazing than no single person has left. i assume most of you have work to do, but we will wrap it up, but not before thinking -- please join me, for this extraordinary panel. [applause] >> we look forward to seeing you at the next free state foundation event. thank you again. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute]

>> both chambers of congress returns to session next week with the senate monday to begin debate on employers to wage discriminate on the basis of gender. they also take up the u.s. district court judicial nomination. follow the senator live on c- span2. the house returns for legislative work tuesday at 2:00 p.m. eastern, and on the agenda final votes for the 23rd -- 2013 spending. also, more spending bills related to the homeland security and legislative branch. the house is live on c-span. >> tomorrow on "washington journal" mark murray and greg gilbert on the wisconsin recall election. then, the belief that most

european nations are increasing taxes without cutting spending, making things worse for several economies. after that, an update on the situation in syria, and what can be done to prevent further massacres. plus, your e-mail, phone call, and tweets. live, sunday, 7:00 a.m. on c- span. >> writing is a transactional process. riding a simms reading. it goes back to the question about a tree falling in the forested there is no one there to hear it. if you have written a wonderful novel, one of the parts of the process is you want readers to be enlarged and enriched by it, and you have to pull everything in your disposal. >> author anna quindlen will talk about her guides to life

and social policy sunday. she will be ready for your calls and e-mail starting and noon eastern on "booktv." >> earlier this week, attorney general eric holder said voting rights enforcement is one of the justice department's highest priorities, expressing concerns with a number of state laws changing voter i.d. requirements. he spoke at a conference hosted by the congressional black caucus and the conference of national black churches. this is 20 minutes. >> we want to take this opportunity to call on the chairman who has been a leading voice in the african-american community for more than three

decades. he is the person on whose shoulders this organization stands and the service that we render. we are thankful for his plan to an, -- planting, and deposited his speed to. without -- >> without the conference of the denomination of black churches, our churches would never knew each other because it is too easy to live in a box of our old, local situation. bishop adams called us from the walls of our denominations into the big room where we could all sit and celebrate our unity in christ. it is my pleasure to present the chairman emeritus who will present our keynote speaker, bush about and spirit [applause] -- bishop adams. [applause]

>> in deference to the schedule, i know how to be brief. [laughter] thank you, mr. president, for those kind words. thank you. i do want to tell you that i lived in texas for 40 years and everything you said about waxahachie is true. [laughter] mr. attorney general, other distinguished people here, press people, congress people, and all other kinds of people, if you do not know who eric holder is, it is too late for

you to find out. [laughter] distinguished servant of the people, relentless do work of justice -- doer of justice, have served at all levels in this country for the opportunity to provide an opportunity for justice for the people. he serves now as the attorney general of the united states, as the chief legal officer of this country, the hon. eric holder. [applause] >> good morning. it is a pleasure to be here.

thank you, bishop, for that warm introduction. as i was listening to the congressman, i was thinking to myself, why would he do this to me? i'm just a lawyer. he is a congressman, a pastor, and he brought it, didn't he? [applause] so, thank you, congressman. it is a privilege to join with you and with dr. richardson, dr. burton, in opening this 2012 consultation. i will thank you all for your kind words, for your leadership, for your partnership, and for your prayers. i need your prayers. the president needs repairs. please keep them coming. let me also thank the members and supporters of the conference of national black churches in the congressional black caucus with us today for your work in

bringing us together today and bringing renewed attention to the growing need to protect what i want to talk about today, the voting rights of every eligible citizen. it is a pleasure to be part of the discussion and among some friends, allies, and dedicated leaders. i am grateful for the opportunity to talk about important our people are doing across this country to improve our lives. since its official establishment in 2009, the efforts have reached more than 10 million people. in partnership with the congressional black caucus, a group that has established itself as the conscience of congress over the last 40 years, you have emerged as a powerful course for pot the powerful force for positive change. you are providing a voice for the most vulnerable among us. you are shining a light on the problems we must solve and the promises we must fulfill.

in so many different ways, in classrooms, in courtrooms, in houses of worship, in halls of justice, in your own homes and neighborhoods. you are working to protect the progress that has marked our past and strengthened our future. in the efforts to honor the enduring cause of justice and opportunity, you have done a great job. despite all you have done to advance the cause and the changes we have witnessed in our own lifetime, as you know, this is no time to become complacent. we have walked far and the wrong -- we have what are on the long road to freedom, yet we have not reached the promised land. it is clear our struggle to overcome in justice, to bridge longstanding divisions, to eradicate pilots, and uphold the civil rights of citizens has not yet ended. that means it is time again to ask dr. king's most famous and

enduring question. where do we go from here? it is time to consider and discuss where we should focus our energy and where we must place our priorities. like many of you, i would argue that of all the freedoms we enjoy today, none is more important or more sacred than the right to vote. i am hardly to make such an assessment. in july of 1965 when president johnson signed the voting rights act into law, he proclaimed the right to vote is a basic right without which all others are meaningless. today as attorney general, i have the privilege and duty and enforcing this law. and the other civil rights reforms that president johnson, dr. king, and other leaders championed for this justice department and for our

government and law enforcement partners across the country, this is among our highest priorities. the it is important for this administration when it comes to combating violence and human trafficking and strengthening law enforcement efforts so that in our workplaces and military bases, in our housing and lending markets, in our schools and places of worship, in our immigrant communities and voting booths, the rights of all americans are protected. our efforts on the generations that have taken extraordinary risks and confronted hatred, bias, and violence to ensure that their children and all citizens will have the chance to participate in the work of their government. without those people, there would be no eric holder. there would be no barack obama.

we must never forget that. our efforts reflect that the right to vote is not only the cornerstone of our system of government. it is and always has been the lifeblood of our democracy. no force has proved more powerful or integral to the success of the great american experiment than the efforts to expand the franchise. without the right to vote, there would be no congressional black caucus. these people who lead our nation and are the conscience of congress would not be here without the right to vote. despite this history and our nation's long tradition of extending voting rights to non- property owners and women, to people of color, native americans, and in americans, today -- and younger americans, today a growing number are worried about the disparities that five decades ago so many fought to address. i have heard a consistent drumbeat of concern from

citizens who now have reason to believe we are failing to live up to one of our nation's most noble ideals and that some of the achievements that define the civil-rights movement now hang again in the balance. congressman john lewis may have described the reason for these concerns best in a speech on the house floor last summer in pointing out that the voting rights that he nearly gave his life to ensure are under attack by a deliberate and systematic attempt to prevent millions of elderly voters, young voters, students, and minority and low- income voters from exercising their constitutional right to engage in the democratic process. not only was he referring to the deceptive practices we have been fighting for years. you know about all that. he was talking about more recent fears and concerns about the state level boating law

changes we have seen in this legislative season, this year. let me assure you that for today's department of justice, our commitment to strengthening and fulfilling our nations promise of equal opportunity and justice have never been stronger. nowhere is this more clear than in our current efforts to expand access to and prevent discrimination in our election systems. we are dedicated to aggressively enforcing the voting rights act and fulfilling our obligations under section two and section 5 of this by a law. under section two, which prohibits racially discriminatory practices, we have opened a record number of new investigations, more than 100 in the last fiscal year. we have had success without litigation in encouraging voluntary improvements and compliance. at the same time, section 5, which require pre-clearance of voting changes in 16 states where discrimination was deeply

rooted continues to be a critical tool in the protection of voting rights. under that provision, certain jurisdictions are prevented from altering their voting practices until it can be determined that any proposed changes would have neither a discriminatory purpose or effect. this process is known as preclearance and has been a powerful tool in combating discrimination for decades. it has consistently endured broad, bipartisan support, including in its most recent reauthorization when president bush and the overwhelming congressional majority came together in 2006 to renew the key provisions and extend them until 2031. in the six years since its reauthorization, section 5 has increasingly come under attack by those who claim it is no longer needed. in 1965 and 2010, only eight challenges were filed in court. over the last two years alone,

we have seen nine lawsuits contesting the constitutionality of that provision. four of these are currently in litigation. each of these challenges claims we have attained a new era of electoral equality, that america in 2012 has moved beyond the challenges of 1965 and that section five is no longer necessary. i wish this were the case. the reality is in jurisdictions across the country overt and subtle forms of discrimination remain, and and have not been relegated to the pages of history. as we have seen over the years, the voting rights act has consistently been upheld in court. several days ago, the d.c. court of appeals rejected one of the latest challenges to section 5 reaffirming its continued relevance as a cornerstone of civil rights law and

safeguarding voting rights that for many americans are now at risk. as you know and work to draw attention to, the past two years and brought nearly two dozen new state laws and executive orders from a dozen states that could make it harder for many eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012. in response to some of these changes, the justice department has initiated careful and independent reviews. we are examining a number of redistricting plans in jurisdictions as well as other changes to our system, including changes to the procedures governing third party registration organizations, early voting procedures, boat identification requirements to ensure there is no -- discriminatory purpose or effect. we will follow the law and approve the change.

when a jurisdiction fails to meet the burden in proving that the proposed change would not have a discriminatory effect, we will object. we have in 15 separate cases since last september. for example, in texas the justice department has argued the proposed redistricting plan for the state house and u.s. congress are impermissible based on evidence maps were manipulated to give the appearance of a minority control while minimizing minority electoral strength. we argued this is precisely the type of discrimination that section 5 was intended to block. the case has been tried. we are awaiting the court's decision. unfortunately, a redistricting is far from the only area of concern in covered jurisdictions. the recent wave to changes of voter dedication laws have also presented a number of problems requiring department attention.

in december, we objected to i.d. carolina's voter proposed change that it would have a disproportionate impact. the justice department is also taking important steps to protect the voting rights of men and women fighting overseas and veterans returning home, as well as americans living abroad, citizens with disabilities, college students, and language minorities. a few days ago, we filed a lawsuit and consent decree against california because of the failure to send ballots to oversee the voters for the primary election. this is the eighth such loss to the department has filed in the last two years to protect the voting rights of service members and overseas citizens. we will work to insure the law

to increase access to registration opportunities. in one case, we reached a settlement with the state of rhode island that resulted in more voters being registered in the first month after our lawsuit than in the entire previous two years. in addition to these and other efforts to insure access to the ballot box, we are working to uphold the integrity of our election system. i want to be clear. no form of electoral fraud will be tolerated by this administration, this justice department. [applause] from my early days as a trial attorney, i have been proud to stand on the front lines of the fight. i understand the importance of investigating and prosecuting fraud cases whenever they rise. i also know firsthand what so many studies and assessments have shown, that making voter

registration easier is not likely to make our selections more susceptible to fraud. while responsible parties have acknowledged in person voting fraud is uncommon, any allegation of the currency will continue to be taken seriously. as we continue working to expand and protect the voting franchise, we're fortunate to have strong allies in the congressional black caucus whose members introduced legislation that opposes any state election law that would disproportionately impact vulnerable communities. we're privileged to have community partners in and beyond this room that are the stewards of our democracy. that means you have a critical responsibility to help identify and implement the most effective ways to safeguard the most basic of all american rights. you have a thoughtful voice to add to discussions about boating access, -- voting access, a struggle has been about insuring, the opportunity for citizens to voice their

opinions, and signal their priorities and shape their interests. the american people have worked and fought for such a system. now with each of us, the fight must go on. the progress we hold dear is in our hands. the democracy we hold sacred is our responsibility to carry forward. in driving these efforts, i am privileged to come out u.s. partners. i am grateful for the leadership and courage you have shown in keeping faith in the promise of this nation and the power of what its people can achieve together. thank you very much. [applause] >> after the attorney general spoke, the congressional black congress and conference of national black churches held a discussion on voting rights.

we will hear from legal activists working to counter new voter i.d. laws. this is one hour and 20 minutes. >> i am a congressman from the second district of louisiana. i know many of you thought you would see charlie rangel. i will do my best to represent him well. for me, this is such an appropriate conversation to an appropriate group of people at

the right time. i say that as a beneficiary of the work you did years ago. but for you, we would not have the right to vote. but for our churches, i would not have had the opportunity to go to integrated schools and some of the best schools in the country. but for you who marched and sacrificed so much, i would not have had a chance to be elected to the louisiana house of representatives and the united states congress. for that, i say thank you. the recognized i stand on your shoulders. with that comes an obligation to make sure that we protect the rights for the next generation. it is an honor and very humbling to now work side-by-side with many of you and my colleagues in the congressional black caucus

that i grew up idolizing, now to stand on the house floor and fight to protect our communities is such an honor. we all know how important the right to vote is. it is your vote -- voice in government. more importantly, it is what validates you as being an american citizen and that you have equal rights as anyone else. when the right to vote is threatened, it should alarm all of us. our distinguished panel guests today will talk about the implications of it, the new laws, the attorney general did that. when we talk about the voter i.d. laws and new hurdles and obstacles for the right to vote, those things are very alarming.

it is a solution in search of a problem. even in louisiana and southern states, you will not see rampant voter fraud or any of those things. to come back with such overkill that could jeopardize so many people's right to vote is something we have to pay attention to. we have come very far. we have done that primarily because of relationships with our clergy and our elected officials. we are at a unique moment in time. we have the ability to galvanize and get messages out to protect the community and inform the committee. that will not always be the case. we recognize this partnership and its relationship has endured -- this relationship has

endured a long time. we need to improve its going forth. in years to come, we will have to make sure we can fight and take up for everyone. i will leave you with this. as elected officials, we get the calls in our office every day. whether it is social security, medicare, voting rights, people adjust cannot make ends meet. you get those calls every day and all night. you do not have the staffs we have. we want you to know that we certainly appreciate what you do for our constituents, your role in the community is the exact same as ours. we help people and we fight for those who normally will not have equal say so in what is going on. thank you for coming. we will start with -- i will

introduce representative butterfield, the vice chair of the congressional black caucus who will moderate the program. thank you for what you are doing. our prayers are with yours. [applause] >> thank you, congressman richmond, thank you for the work you do for the congressional black caucus and for the entire congress. let me recognized my colleagues in the audience today. i am sure others will be recognizing them along the way. i cannot stand without recognizing the lustrous congresswoman from florida, floreen brown, and the distinguished member from california, barbara lee. thank you very much for coming. i am a congressman g.k. butterfield. i represent the eastern part of north carolina, the 24 counties east of raleigh, north carolina.

i have been in congress about eight years. i serve on the energy and commerce committee. i served as the vice chair of the congressional black caucus. we are very busy in washington. i want to thank you for coming today to have this important conversation with us. i also bring greetings to you from my home church, the jackson chapel missionary baptist church of wilson, north carolina. i like to do that briefly whenever i speak to church- affiliated organizations. i am told i am standing in for the illustrious john lewis. how in the world to you stand in the shoes of john lewis? it sort of reminds me when king was assassinated and a bid africa the -- david abernathy ascended to the chair and said, and how do you stand in the shoes of dr. king? that is how i find myself today.

we're here to talk about voting rights. it is the conversation we must have. it is critically important. for us to understand the full dimension of voting rights, you cannot address it in a contemporary context. you have to go back into slavery to 1865 when slavery came to an end, there were 4 million african-americans in the south. they had no right to vote. they had no education. they had no assets. they have absolutely nothing but faith in god, faith in each other, and faith in committee. starting in 1865, the former slaves began to build their communities. the first thing they did with the help of whites from the north was to build churches in the south. many of our churches were founded in 1865, 1866, my church

was 1872. the first thing they did was to build churches. was tosnext thing they did build schools. many were attached to the church. the third thing was to get involved in the electoral process within the community. in 1870, 34 words were added to the united states constitution comprising the 15th amendment. those words were very plain and simple. the right of citizens of the united states to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the united states or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. based on that amendment, african-americans began to get involved. 20 african-americans were elected to congress during reconstruction. eight were from south carolina. four from north carolina, and other states from across the south. all of that came to an end in 1900 when this -- disfrachise

amendments were added to constitutions. an amendment in my state was added the required voters to the book to read and write to the satisfaction of the registrar. it was called the literacy test. it came in in 1900. a poll tax was implemented requiring voters to pay a poll tax. starting in 1900, the last black congressman from the south, george white, who was from the district are represent, all of the black congressmen were unable to get reelected because all of the african-american voters had been taken off of the voter rolls. starting in 1900, there was effectively no participation whatsoever in the electoral process. after the 1964 as civil rights bill passed, dr. king was given the nobel peace prize in norway.

when he came back to this country, he was summoned to the white house by then-president johnson. u.s. bank for his work on civil rights. -- he was thanked for his work on civil-rights. he said, president johnson, now is the time. voting rights act. president johnson said, do not take me there today. i have just used all of my capital, resources, and good will in trying to persuade congress to pass the civil rights act. we have got to wait on the voting rights act. dr. king said, mr. president, i am disappointed with you. you know the 15th amendment that was added to the constitution in 1870 has been meeting for african-americans today. we need a boating rights act. -- we need a boating rights act. that is when selma, montgomery took place. i am sure john lewis would have talked about that today.

that is when the selma to montgomery voting rights movement began in earnest. finally in march of 1965, president johnson called a nationwide press conference to announce he was changing his decision, that he would support a strong voting rights act. he did that. he did that at the peril of the second presidency, of losing the democratic influence in the south among white voters, but he did it because it was the right thing. now we have a voting rights act. when i was in law school at 35, 40 years ago, there was no african-american elected officials in my great state. today we have eight or 900 elected officials, 300 in my congressional district alone. the voting rights act has made a difference. [applause] now all this progress we've made

is under assault. there is a right-wing conspiracy that is alive and well in this country that is trying to take us back to 1900 and even before. they are coming in very discreet ways. the citizens united case that now allows corporations to give unlimited amounts of money anonymously in support or opposition to political candidates, and it is working. we are going to alert you and inform you and empower you to go back to your communities and the vocal on this subject and make a difference. when the congressional black caucus tells you a voter i.d. law will be detrimental to black empowerment, we know what we're talking about. it is for real. what they want to do is not take

away the right to vote, but if black voter participation can be diminished even by 10%, it will make the critical difference across the country. president obama won by state in the last election by 14,000 votes. if we had a voter i.d. lot in north carolina, he would not have won the state and probably could not have won the presidency. we want to thank you for coming. we have wonderful panelists today. we thank them for their willingness to come. instead of reading their bios, they can give you a summary about where they sit and what they do. deborah fagins, senior counsel for aclu, nicole hillary, in the washington office, marcia

blanco, co-director of the lawyers committee. i am close. i am from the south. give me a break. [laughter] how many are from the south? there we go. i am in good company. marcia is from the lawyers committee, voting rights project. the next panelist is judith brown, co-director of the advancement project. in addition to our program who is a distinguished leader in voting rights, a woman i have known for 35 years who has really made a difference in her work, barbara from the committee for civil rights and the law. thank you for coming today. [applause] this is where i am going to need some help. before i do that, let me recognize my good friend sanford

bishop from the state of georgia. have you work it out how you want to go? it is all yours. >> thank you. since we live and work in washington we know how to shuffle and change things around. once i got married nobody knew what my name was, so it is all right. we understand. if thank you for gathering and for inviting us to come and talk about the work we do and our efforts to protect our democracy. all of us who sit before you today work with major organizations that work to protect a core principle of our democracy. we want to talk about making sure you have a good understanding of exactly what has been happening in terms of

state law that has been test, litigation, and the assault that is underway that is threatening every american can't tell right to vote. white americans -- american compel right to vote. white americans, latino americans -- when you challenge the right, you are challenging for everyone and that is something we need to be concerned about. the brent and center for justice is the organization i represent. we are a non-profit, legal advocacy thinktank organization, and we take a three-prong approach to the issues that we work on. we litigate, we produce scholars see the sixth scholarly work and we do advocacy work -- scholarly work and we do advocacy work. we were no issues as best as voting rights, criminal justice

-- we work on issues as fast as voting rights, protecting the court, what i'm here to talk about is the rock -- work we do with respect to voting rights. if you have not seen this, and i did not head 250 copies, i heard we needed a lot. i brought my only one, but i will tell you how to get it. this is called voting law changes and 2012 and it is a report that the brennan center introduced in 2011 and we put it together for one reason. we wanted folks like you to have a one-stop resource where you could go to find out what in the world has been going on across the country in terms of these boating law changes. we know that we had been hearing on the news that one state was passing a law requiring voter i.d.

then we heard another state passed a law that says sunday voting that you do before the election, we will do away with that. it was all coming at us quickly. what we said is we need a tool that will enable individuals to have a good understanding of what in the heck is going on in the country because we all now that knowledge is power, and in order for you to understand how to help your parishioners, your community members, you have to have a good understanding of what is going on in the country. if that is what this report does. we produced this in october, 2011. it is already outdated. it is outdated because the efforts that are underway to change at the laws are fast and furious. they continue throughout all of the state legislative period

across the country. i'm going to give you the numbers. i know the numbers are boring. if i used to tell my statistics professor i do not need these number and lo and behold he laughs at me now because clearly idea with numbers. that information is power. i will give you a brief overview of what the country looks like right now in terms of laws that have been passed, how many people are effected, who are the groups mostly effected and and my wonderful colleagues are going to talk to you a little bit more about what is going on on the got -- on the ground in terms of community advocacy, litigation, and in terms of what you need to do to arm yourselves and your parishioners to be able to be prepared for the impact of these changes. we estimate in our report that up to 5 million voters will be impacted by these changes in law across the country. up to 5 million voters.

i know what you have been hearing about is the voter i.d. concept. in need to understand this is not just about voter idea. there are changes that have taken place. let's start out with a voter i.d. at least 34 states have introduced legislation that would require voters to show photo identification to vote, and an additional four states introduce legislation requesting that loader's show photo identification to actually register -- voters shows little identification to actually register to vote. what this means is previously, you did not have to have the photo id. now, the state say you have to have this and some states say on the day you show what the polls you have to have that sorrow id. a lot of people say what is the big deal? we all have id compel -- id's

well, my 80-year-old aunts does not have one anymore, but she wants to vote. [applause] proof of citizenship laws is another way that these laws have taken effect. 15 states have introduced legislation that would require proof of citizenship, meaning you have to show your birth certificate or some other form of id that shows your the united states citizen in order to register to vote. and these laws have passed in many states, including alabama, kansas, and tennessee. and here's something you need to understand when we talk about what changed. previously, prior to 2011, only two states had passed proof of citizenship laws. and now, we have numerous states that have passed these laws. there's also bills to make registering more difficult, by eliminating same-day voter registration. they have organizations that

normally have been on the ground to register voters are now limited in some states. some to the point where they have said we will close down shop. we are so fearful of these new laws, in understanding them and ensuring that we're not running day -- we will just leave. imagine the impact of that. statistics show that many people, particularly minorities, use those third- party voter registration options. they register to vote when the naacp sets up the registration tables. they registered to vote and the league of women voters said up registration tables. so when the pullout, that means those communities that have depended on them are being greatly impacted. several of these states have reduced early and absentee days. that means at least nine states have reduced their early

warning -- early voting periods. we know that many voters to the advantage of early voting so they did not have to stand in line on tuesday and some people cannot afford to stand in line for five hours. some people cannot be off of work. so these the early voting days help those individuals. florida, georgia, ohio, tennessee, and west virginia were states that succeeded in reducing early voting could and then there are those states that made it even harder to restore your voting rights. what this means is this. individuals who were formally incarcerated, who you would think, once they paid their debt to society, would get their voting rights restored because of their rights to do all of these other things to obey the law have been restored. but unbeknownst to many, their

right to vote in many instances has not been restored. and even in states where they had previously been ahead of the game, states where they have said we recognize that, one individual has paid their debt to society, their right to vote to be restored -- two states, florida and iowa, rolled back their law and they have now said, i know we gave you that opportunity before, but under the new governorship, the change to that. again, my colleague will tell you a little bit about that. what do these numbers mean? here is what they mean. this means that, in 60% to 75% of all of the electoral votes that it will take to elect the next president, those are the majority of states where these new laws have passed, the states that make a 60% to 75% of the electoral vote that will be

required to elect our next president. 11% of all americans lack photo id. a lot of people, again, say who doesn't have id? but 11% of us do not have it. 18% of americans over the just 65 lack photo id. at least 7% of americans lack proof of citizenship. i don't carry my birth certificate around. i don't know if any of you have yours here with stupid but i don't have a document in my purse that says i am united states senate. with respect to women, 34% of women lack proof of citizenship with their current legal name. my colleague has heard me say this before. she is judith brown diana appeared my -- judith brown diana. i am -- all the men are

laughing. that is another discussion for another day. [laughter] the the bottom line is that it has become more difficult for us because they're people call me hillary and i say that my first name is nicole. they get all confused. judith and i are lawyers. we're lawyers who are knowledgeable about voting rights and voting issues. imagine the 34% of those women who don't have this knowledge and disinformation. -- and this information. when you talk about voters will no longer be able to vote on sunday, i am looking at you all because we all know that many of the people you're presenter the individuals who will be impacted by the exchanges. let me quickly get on to tell you about what can be done, what kinds of things you can do.

there are legal challenges going on across the country. the brennan center is involved in some of them. there is a case in south carolina coming in texas -- we are representing, along with some of my colleagues, the league of women voters and florida because florida is one of those states that has really had some laws that made it very, very difficult for organizations like the league of women voters to handle their voter registration. that is one of the groups that said, with respect to the set of florida, you have made it so hard for us and we're concerned about the new law that we are pulling out. the league of women voters is not registering people to vote in the state of florida right now pending litigation. those are things you need to be worried about. students are people that are being heavily and backed by the new law. there are some states that have said -- heavily impacted by the new law appeared there are some states that have said that, it you come to my state from

another state, your ideas not been enough to allow you to vote in this state. we need to be concerned about this. we're talking at the elderly. we're talking not students. we're talking about minorities, black and brown people. and we're talking about women of all colors, again, who have these funny names or who have changed their names and they do not have id. and these battles are continuing. the information in the burn center -- the brennan center report is outdated because things are happening consistently. there are legislators around this country who, like all of us in this room, are not necessarily as concerned about protecting democracy. i will tell you -- all of us who were here on the day of today, our organization, we don't care if you're blue, black, yellow, purple or read. what we are concerned about is that all americans have their right to vote protected.

that is the message. don't allow folks to try to pigeonhole this and turn it into a black issue. this is an american issue. this is a democracy issue. [applause] i will sit down now because i have given you the numbers. my colleagues will give you more information on what you can do. this is what i will leave you with. we have left a one-page information sheet on the table. if you don't see it out there, as we are mingling afterwards, grabbed me and i will give misinformation. i will give you my card. we put together an information sheet for you of all the different places on the brennan center website where you can go

and connect to links that will give you our report -- this nice big red compendium. it will give you a report we did on voter fraud. as the congressman said earlier, some think that this is about voter fraud. it is not a real issue. this argument that this is about voter fraud is a solution in search of a problem. and we also give you links to tell you how you can get the most updated information about these changes across the states. we want you to be armed with knowledge. maybe we should turn this into a little card you can stick into your wallet. that is what this is. i will leave you with that. keep up on misinformation. this is information you can share with your parishioners and your community members. again, we wanted to know what is going on and we will do our best to keep you updated.

again, this is about protecting our democracy and our right to vote. that is part of our history in this country. what we have been about, as the congressman said, opening the doors to voting, not closing them. we want to ensure that no more doors are closed. thank you. [applause] >> the web site is www.brennancenter.org. really, sometimes you forget. we have these materials. i will be around. i have cards. my associate molly, everything that i said was wonderful, she is responsible for. anything that i said wasn't, don't blame her for it. we have all of disinformation. thank you. the -- the information. thank you. >> thank you, nicole. thank you mr. richmond. i am with the aclu in

washington, d.c. and i worked in congress, for congress, and the white house agencies try to promote voting rights. i also represent the larger organization that also works on voting rights from three angles. we pursue litigation in state and federal courts. we lobby of the federal and state level. we also engage in public education in a variety of communities. i quickly want to touch on the trend you heard about so far, which is this new wave of attacks on the right to vote. in particular, i want to talk about the criminal different -- criminal disenfranchisement laws, and how you can work with the faith community to get involved. as you heard, there has been a different variety forms of the tax. we heard about voter i.d. and system requirements and limitations on early voting. these tactics are all different good but the impact is the same. the impact and the intent is to exclude certain groups from the electorate, the bottom line.

all of these laws place disproportionate burdens on african-americans, the elderly, people with disabilities, students, low-income and language-minority voters and it is not a coincidence. the aclu is working in virtually all the states that have passed new laws and we are challenging voter i.d. wisconsin, for example, along with people -- along with people on this panel and defending the their constitutionality of the voting rights act, which is also under attack. in the context of this larger trend, there is a smaller trend that is very important which is happening and is very alarming. in florida, iowa and south dakota, they have rolled back voting rights for people with criminal convictions, even though they have been voting for years without negative consequences. the trend in the state before that, for 15 years, had been

torn and easing of these restoration requirements -- have been on an easing of these registration requirements. here we are, about to face another important election, and there are millions of people who have served their time in prison and, because of this issue only, and i even called the other issues we have talked about, but this issue only, they will lead people to vote. just in florida alone, up to 1 million people will be affected by this new draconian law. i want to give a little bit of background about it -- about it. every state has a different law. in two states, you can actually vote from prison. the most progressive state on this issue are maine and vermont been kentucky, virginia, florida and iowa have banned you from voting for life in -- for life unless you have individual clemency from a governor.

that is almost impossible. some have a 14-year waiting period just for a clemency hearing and clemency is rarely given. in other states, you have to wait for parole or probation to be over. in total, there are 5.3 million people who cannot vote because of a criminal conviction. and 4 million of tse people who are in our communities, working, paying taxes, sending their kids to school who have no voice in their political process. one of the most problematic features of criminal disenfranchisement laws is that it is closely tied to discrimination in america appeared even though these laws existed since the revolutionary war -- in america. even though these laws existed since the revolutionary war, we talk about poll taxes, grandfather clauses, literacy

tests, all designed to suppress the black vote as well as felony disenfranchisement laws. there were all passed as part of the same scheme. the voter right at got rid of the other forms of discrimination, although we are seeing a rise again in some of these laws. unfortunately, criminal disenfranchisement laws continue. as i said, the pact continues to it is estimated that 30% of african-american men have lost the right to vote, which is seven times the national average pared and latinos citizens who are represented in prison are impacted as well. i fear we see a national disgrace. 70% of the people who are

disenfranchised by these laws are part of our community, are part of your parishes, are trying to have a voice, but they are being silenced. federal congressional action is theded. e is a bill in congress pending called the restoration act. we need your help with that. the democracy restoration act coalition, you have all been stalwarts for advocates for change. the groups that work with us to emphasize the role of production and rehabilitation and why it is important to have this fundamental right restored. members of the state community are active members. there is a letter that we signed, as members of the faith community, that we have sent to congress and we would love for your parishes and churches to be joined in that letter. finally, one other thing i wanted to mention is some of the litigation we are doing with the faith community and how you might be able to join that

effort. you heard about the restrictions also on early voting and how that is impacting the sunday before elections. in ohio, yet another tactic to stop people from voting, they passed hb 194. it eliminated letting co- workers help you find the right precinct if you're in the wrong place. despite statistics showing that whole of these halfies to the voting administration process in ohio, -- these have eased the voting administration process in ohio, the faith community in ohio have demonstrated how it can be problematic. they have souls to the polls programs where they bring in entire congregations to the board of elections to vote early. it was extremely popular in 2008 in ohio where there were lines for early voting. this law in ohio would

eliminate that sunday. it has not it gone into effect. this is where you can help. because the aclu of ohio, our coalition partners, the faith community, state legislatures have all worked together, it will now be on the ballot to give the people of ohio a voice in determining what will happen to them. but after november, the future of the souls to the polls program and early voting itself is in jeopardy. so we need your help. we also reject the aclu has created podcasts with the pastors -- the aclu has created podcast with the pastors about targeted attacks that stop people from voting. and florida, there is a similar story. the bill has passed, a chubby -- it had the changes to the florida election laws and it became law in may. it cut back early voting, among

other things. again, the sunday before the elections, of course. and the variety of other things. it is also one of the states that rolled back the criminal disenfranchisement loss. from 2008, on the sunday before election, voters accounted for 32% of the voting turnout in florida. once again, not taken the incidents -- not a coincidence we are working with the faith community and other coalition partners in florida and we are currently live giddy with other groups. we need your help there. the last thing -- currently litigating with other groups. we need your help there. the last thing, over the summer, we will have brochures and cards that we can distribute in these states that have passed problematic laws.

we will talk about criminal disenfranchisement in states that have done that. so you can pass it out of the parishioners can be aware of what their rights are, what they can do, and how they can get involved. you can do to aclu.org and start downloading that material by the end of the summer. thank you very much. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. it is a great pleasure for me to be here this morning to talk to you about a subject that, unfortunately, is one that we are grappling with decades after we thought we would be finished with it. i am the voting rights co- director from the lawyers committee for civil rights under law. 49 years ago, president kennedy called a private bar to the white house and said we need your help in the fight for civil rights.

you, the church, were out there in the streets and kennedy said we need a partnership between the church and the bars to fight. never suspecting that, almost 50 years later, we are still in the same fight. right now, we are any crossroads in our democracy. after decades of increasing access to vote, we are now turning and reducing that access and we are now fighting and believably to make sure all eligible voters have a right to vote. and deciding against laws across the country that have the potential to disenfranchise millions of voters. and the frightening thing about this is that a lot of voters are not aware. they are not aware that these laws are being passed.

there are a number of people who went to the polls in 2008, in 2010, and they do not know that, when they go to the polls in 2012, they may be denied the that they were not aware they needed to have appeared they may be planning to go to the polls on sunday before election day and find out, no, you can no longer vote then. they may find out that they have been removed from the polls because of states like florida that have a purging regime where you -- where they're using faulty data bases and sending messages to voters stating that you're not a citizen and not eligible. come to a hearing and bring proof. this is what we're dealing with in our democracy. we're hearing that the reason for this is voter fraud. voter fraud is a phantom. yes, there have been mistakes that people have made in trying to vote. but we have discovered that they were mistakes or maybe acts

of individuals, but there is nothing within our democracy right now that threatens us to the extent that we need to take away the rights of millions of voters to protect our democracy. we are being fed this myth. instead, the rights of millions and millions of voters are being taken away on our watch and we cannot allow it to happen. we need your voices. let your parishioners know what is happening. and we're here to let you know that we're here to work with you. they have mentioned resources that are available. i will talk with you a bit more about resources that we have available. the other battle that is going on is that the heart of the voting rights act is under attack. section 5 of the voting rights

act, which requires states that have a history of discrimination to get federal approval before instituting their voting changes, that part is under attack. right now, in federal court, we intervened in a case where a county in alabama has brought a challenge to the voting rights act. in florida, they withdrew the review from the doj and ticket to the courts. oh, by the way, if the court decides that we can't, we object the constitutionality of section 5 that requires us to do this. after texas passed its photo id law and doj said the law discriminates against minorities and we object, they are now in the d.c. court asking the court to approve the voter i.d. law. oh, and by the way, we

challenged the constitutionality of section 5. so far, the district court and the d.c. district circuit courts have upheld the constitutionality of section 5. but this will be before the supreme court next term. we need your voices to speak up for why section 5 is needed. as we saw in texas and in south carolina, the department of justice was able to show that these voter i.d. laws discriminate against minorities. this is why section 5 is still needed. this is why congress decided section 5 was still needed. and we need to protect the heart of the voting rights act. we are now in a horrible position of fighting to hold onto gains we made decades ago that we thought, oh, that is

over and let's move on to the next fight. the battle continues. i also wanted to mention national voter registration, motor voter, making it easier to register to vote. that is not being implemented. ok. the ncra motor voter is not being implemented. we had to bring litigation against states, ohio, missouri, indiana, ga. to enforce registration opportunities when people go to public assistance agencies. because of our litigation, now over 1 million voters have been offered the opportunity to register to vote. i have been asked to explain a little bit more about section 5 of the voting rights act. as we know, we have lived in the history of states that

discriminated against minorities and the voting rights act requires those states, before any voting change they made, we have to submit it to did doj or the district court in the district of columbia for approval before they can be implemented, such as the photo id law that texas past, that said, no, you cannot use a student id in order to vote, but you can use your concealed gun permit in order to vote. and in south carolina, it passed a similar law. before those laws can be implemented, they have to have reviewed and doj said no. the law allows them to go to the courts and now there before the court. but as it, they are challenging the very basis of having to submit to this review. -- but, as i said, they are challenging the very basis of having to submit to this review. they pose a special challenge, that we now have to take back

our democracy. we have to fight back for our democracy. we have to raise our voices. we have to let the voters out there who are unaware of these changes, we need to join together and let them know that the changes have occurred. those that need id in pennsylvania or tennessee, we have to see how we can help them to get the idea that is needed. those who are in texas were south carolina need to know that come even though the states pass an ideologue, they're not yet implemented. -- passed an id law, they're not yet implemented. in the election of 2000 where voters were purged, we realize that litigation was not the best ways to address laws in voting. we put together a coalition to help voters before and on

election day to be able to exercise their right to vote and answer any questions they have. we have a hot line, a nationwide hotline. voters can call and have their questions answered before election day, on election day if they are at the polls. we have trained attorneys to enter their calls. in 2008, we had 2000 legal volunteers. the same for 2012. we also created a resourced sheet. we have handouts here on the table available to all of you. they talk about our website where you can find information on all the laws in all the states. if you want to work with voters to help them get id, we did a report along with other organizations about groups in tennessee and wisconsin that

are working to help voters get id, what works and what doesn't, the resources needed. we have that died. -- guide. we also have a smartphone app. for the under people, this is the way they get their information and use their information. -- for the younger people, this is the way they get their information and use their information. all of these resources are available to you. we talked about the voting changes. we have the map of shame which shows all of the changes in voting laws that threaten to disenfranchise voters. in closing, i just want to say that we need you. we need the partnership between the bar and the church to continue. you are the voices for the

parishioners out there that need to know about these changes. and we stand ready to provide you with any information that you need in order to be able to do so. thank you. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> thank you. we have two speakers remaining. before calling on the next one, let me inquire about how we stand on time. will staff respond on that? we have 15 minutes remaining. all right. before calling on the next speaker, i think we have a few other members who have arrived. i would like to quickly recognize them. congresswoman barbara funds from the state of ohio. bobby scott from the commonwealth of virginia. bennie thompson from mississippi is our chairman. thank you. [applause]

and keith adelson from minnesota. [applause] >> i am just yelling at her because she took all the time. i am co-director of an organization called advancement project. we are the next generation civil rights organization that believes the change will happen from the grassroots up. what we do is support grass- roots movements to work for racial justice. as you can see, from all that you have heard so far, in 2008, turnout among african- americans, latinos, and young voters was up. in 2010, we sat home. and others were planning. in 2010, there was a sweep of state legislatures by the

republican party. i want to say that i am from a non-partisan organization, so i'm just telling you the facts. so in in 2010, when they took over the state legislatures, they moved very quickly in 2011 to redistrict themselves into power for 20-30 years. in 2011, they quickly also moved to put in place new rules around voting because they saw the changing demographics in this country and they saw that we could actually turn out in good numbers when we wanted to. and so they put in place new laws. and they did not stop appeared in 2012, they tried again. in some states, like north carolina, where they passed the legislation for photo id, they would do it by any means necessary. they tried to override the

governor's veto coming times? three or four times, with the last time in a midnight session. under cover of darkness. so it is important for us to understand that what is happening across the country is very important to some people. some people that don't want to give up power. it is important that we let our folks understand the lengths to which they will go in order to get that power. so we have seen across the country these laws and it is not just the voter i.d. laws. but let me tell you about voter i.d.. advance the project has a couple of cases pending -- we have a case in wisconsin where 78% of african-american males between the ages of 18 and 24 do not have state-issued photo id. i said 78%. we have a case pending in texas.

we are part of the case that is brought by doj. do you know that coming in texas, 600,000 already- registered voters do not have state-issued photo i.d.? that means they have been voting, but some has changed the rules on them, changing the rules of the game right before we get ready to get to the finish line. that is not fair. so we also brought a case in missouri could they decided they would put it on the ballot in 2012. and we were able to stop them because their language was a little faulty. and a little untruthful. they call that the voter protection act. i took offense to that because our program is the voter protection program. and they said that getting ideas better protection. no, we won that case.

so it will not be on the ballot in november, unless the legislature moves to get new language on the ballot, which they are trying to do. we have a case in pennsylvania with the aclu. one of our plaintiffs is miss alawite. she is a 93-year-old african- american woman who has been voted, as she says, since we could. [laughter] [applause] that means miss apple white, the first election she voted in, she voted for president kennedy. for the first time since then, she will not be able to vote because she does not have vide, because she does not have a birth certificate. she was born in a time when many people were not born in hospitals. we know that many of our folks, especially our elderly folks, will be facing these kinds of hurdles because there are those who want to make it harder to vote. they will tell you because they

want to prevent fraud. but they're not preventing fraud. there preventing voting. you do not need a state-issued photo i.d. with your current address on it that is not expired to get on an airplane trip by the way, getting on an airplane is not a right. don't listen to the rhetoric. there is rhetoric surrounding these laws because they want people to buy into this idea. but what we need to know is that buying into the idea means that we are undermining democracy. because what is great about our country is the ability to participate in our elections. it is the one day where we have equalized everything. equity across the board. it does not matter if you're black, white, rich or poor. we'll have the same day where we go into the polling place and get to cast that ballot. so there are those who say that, in fact, they don't wanted

to be cool and they will pass these laws to make it harder. let me just say, on the voter fraud, i have an article down here called "five myths around voter fraud." you need to read it. you need to share it with your congregation. people need to know that it is rhetoric and it is myth around voter fraud. you know that you're more likely to be struck by lightning than to find a case of voter fraud at the brennan center. let me move on to florida quickly. i love florida appeared to have been doing voting rights litigation since 2000 down there. katherine harris said she would cast a wide net. that is her language. a wide net in order to do purging. so they did not do it too well. we know a lot of people showed up to the polls and their names were not on the rolls into

thousand four, they tried to do it again. they came up with a bad list and they did this matching could be pure name hadn't e on the end of it -- this matching list. if your name had an e on it, there were told to drop that list and they didn't. but here we go again. days of you in florida. florida is notorious -- days of a new -- deja vu in florida. florida is notorious. they have a list of the lead did not as citizens. 400 people have already come forward to say this is my proof of citizenship. first of all, 50% of the list

were latino voters. first there were going after black voters and now they're going after latino voters. understand that what they're doing is sending you a letter and telling you to come prove to us that you are a citizen pick you have been voting for 30 years. we don't care. come prove it to suspend they know that there are a lot of people get frustrated by this and say i will not the if you will put a barrier in the way i will vote. they are counting on that. what we have to do is tell people it doesn't matter how high the barrier. this is too important. this is a right that we will not turn our back on. in florida, we know that we have to continue this fight. but i want to tell you about another thing going on. there is a group called truethe vo -- truethevote.org. they said they would hire people and train people to work

to the polls. in houston, they sent poll watchers out in 2010 as a pilot project and send the tea party people down to the black precincts in houston to look over the shoulders of people as they voted. that was the pilot. kelly had taken it nationwide. they will be coming to a police -- date have now taken it nationwide. they will be coming to a polling place near you. they want to challenge the eligibility of the voters. this is about intimidation. this is about try to make sure that not only will we change the rules and make it harder, but when we get there, we will scare you. we have to be ready for folks and tell them that we will not be scared.

yes, the fort lauderdale paper today talks about the 91-year- old veteran who was on that purged list in florida. a veteran, ok? he served his country and is on this list illegally. but don't worry. we will take care of florida in this case. don't you worry. [applause] true the vote, what you need to know is that they will be prepared and we will be prepared. for those who can, for your congregations, get people to sign up and judges and election judges and poll workers, because we need to be on the inside. we need to have an eye out for what is happening on the inside. the other thing i want to tell you about is that we will be

doing advancement project in the brennan center and communications work. i want you to write down this e- mail address. i want you to sign up to get our communication materials. it is ap@advancementproject.org. if you send an e-mail to us -- it is ap@advancementproject.org. we will be doing some polling and understanding how voters think about voting. we also want to make sure that people are equipped with messages. on fraud, there are not preventing fraud, there preventing? that was a freebie. we will be taking e-mails and we will put you on a list the

people who will get regular communications about the things that you need to be telling folks about voting. there will be a time when you need to tell people, for example, to check your registration status. about 40% of black folks in this country have moved between 2008 and 2012. 40%. many of them will need to reregister. so we will give you from now until the election the information you need to get voters ready for election day. we will also give you those little messages that you need to make sure folks get in degraded so they understand. but let me say this -- get invigorated so they understand. but let me say this. we go way back coming case you didn't know. it doesn't end in november.

if you thought that we had a bad time in 2011 and 2012 with these laws? you ain't seen nothing yet. because in 2016, think about it there will be no incumbent. so it is wide-open territory. that means that there will be those who really have to get the game straight. you don't steal elections by going in as mickey mouse and a impersonating do this -- in verse sitting judith brown diana. the real voter fraud is changing the rules of the game so we cannot vote. the real voter fraud is the misinformation that they put in our communities before an election so that we won't vote. so we have got to be prepared.

if you sign up on that the mail, we will keep you engaged. don't leave it alone in november. because in january, legislatures come back and we will see them come back and they will be rabid. they will be drooling like a rabid dog coming after us. so we have to be prepared. what i want us also to be prepared for is that are members of congress, the thing that we will come back for is some proactive legislation. [applause] we have got to have some change. and we are not only coming back with proactive legislation, but let me tell you the little visionary thing we really need. and congressman jesse jackson, jr. has been pushing this for years. but i will tell you that we need to have an explicit right to vote in the constitution. without, we see these attacks. without it, we see no standards

for how we vote. do you know that there are 13 dozen jurisdictions that run them 13 different ways -- 13,000 jurisdictions that run them 13,000 different ways? we need to be explicit about making sure that the right to vote is enshrined in our constitution. thank you. [applause] >> amen, all right. good afternoon, everyone. i want to start off by always giving honor to god for this opportunity to be here and to speak to you. you have heard some powerful women already today. [applause] i just wanted to dothank -- to thank the congressional black caucus. i remember the fight to make

people realize what was going on, so many people who have been out in front on these issues. when they started this whole effort of voter suppression, it did not just start in 2010. it started in 2000 with that election. then they ratcheted up another notch in 2004, again prior to 2008, and they are back at it again. what we have to understand is that, when they did all of this, one of the motivating factors was that, if you look at your congress, if you look at a lot of your state legislators races, you will find out most of the races were won by 2000 election votes. in 2010, when those races were

held, 25 million people who had voted in 2008 sat down and did not vote. they said, ok, we will make sure that you never vote now. part of this is about how you really have and maintain and dominate power illegally. our duty today is to remember that the bible tells us that for the lack of knowledge, the people perish. you see, we have to have the black church, as black organizations, as organizations committed to democracy, as organizations who believe in a true america, multiracial, gender is cool -- gender equal, giving your body there -- giving everybody their rights, it is about us to guarantee the pathways are there.

what we have to do is understand that there is something for every church, every single church that is here today, there is a role for you to play. don't let anybody tell you otherwise. because, when they came up with all of this evil, this nefarious in seriousness that is downright evil, they counted on everything. they counted on our people being in different. they counted on people not knowing. they counted on people being so into themselves that they were not paying attention. watching "basketball wise" and everything else. but they did not think. they counted on these groups. they will be to underresourced. they will not have the funding.

they will be so frightened on everything else they are trying to do. and their egos will be too big for them to pull together. but there's one thing they didn't count on, one thing they didn't count on. they didn't count on us. they underestimated us because they don't understand the power of our guide. he will not let this happen. he will not let us sit back. what our duty is today is to understand what we have to do. we have to take this up a serious not. we have to build within our community a resistance movement. we have to have folks understand what is going on. no matter what their race. what we will do is a couple of

things. i want you to think about this as black churches. first of all, your first level of defense here. i want you to take down this number. marcia mentioned it and i want to make sure that it becomes part of your mantra, your heart, your whole code. everything your -- one-866-our- vote. that is your lifeline. whenever somebody comes to you and says i cannot vote, that is the line you call. when people come to you and say i don't know how to get ideas you do not know, that is the line you call. when people come to you and say they just told me that i am not registered, that is the line you call. i want you to understand that is the whole line. that is your lifeline. that is the first thing i want

you to understand. once again, let's bring it home -- one-866-our-vote, 866-687- 8683. -- 1-866-687-8683. it will be answered live beginning monday june 4 until november 7. and every day, monday through friday, during business hours, that line will be open. when it is not being answered live, we will return calls that people leave us. let me tell you that, already, we have been filing lawsuits and giving plaintiffs to other organizations for lawsuits because people have been calling our line and say that my rights have been violated. the second thing i want you to

understand -- judy already said it, but take it home again -- we need to have the congregation to be poll workers and poll watchers. you have to say to them. because people have that ability. and we need them this year. we need them to do that. the third thing -- register people to vote. register people to vote. you can do that. you can absolutely register people to vote. i want to talk about it. this easter, last easter weekend, black churches got together and registered 120,000 people. we can do this. registered 120,000 people. we can do this. there is nothing to stop you for registering people to vote. once again, become part of that.

we have been talking about this whole vip process, make sure that he your conscience understand their registration verification. they have to get the identification and they have to go through the correct precinct to vote. you may vote, by it is not going to count if you do not go back and prove it. it is critical, my brothers and sisters, critical that we provide that information. how many of your churches have a voter registration program? excellent. and i want to see every hand raised next time. how many of the churches have a good idea program going on.

there is this folder here that tells you how to create them. please, get that package and make sure you use these resources. it in closing -- because you don't ever really close, do you? [laughter] the work is still here for us. we have a duty. jesus said if you love me, feed my sheep. if you love me, feed my sheep. let's feed the sheep. let's do the work. .et's show them who we are

thank you. [applause] some lovelet's show to this panel. [applause] with had such wonderful chunks of meat. this has been a very substantive gathering. this is what we wanted to accomplish. solid methodologies, solid procedures whereby we can actually make a difference. we are not here for decoration. if we are here to make a difference. we owe a lot to the congressional black caucus. let's show our congress how much we appreciate this. [applause] that's right. [applause] i said earlier that this is an

historical event in the sense that the national church leadership and the national congressional caucus has come together. but it is really a mirror of what happens in each of the congressional districts all year long. it is a partnership between our congress people and churches. we want to thank god for this opportunity to be here today. >> this by our nation's long history of extending voting rights to people of color and the americans and young were americans, today, a number of people are worried about the growing divisions that legislation five decades ago sought to address. there has been a consistent from be of concern in my travels -- a drum beat of concern i have

encountered in my travels. the achievements of the civil rightsovement now hang again in the balance. >> eric holder gave the inaugural address on the anniversary of voting rights. tc