íl,f JIo rt lattò (Obserurr
July 5. 2006
PagcAS
Surprise Reversal on Voting Rights Act
Republicans caved
into opposition
in M aim H. M okiai .
The Voting Rights A ct
re a u th o riz a tio n re c e n tly
suffered a p o litica l setback
in the U.S. House after the
GOP leadership caved into
opposition by a small group
o f rig h t-w in g extrem ists,
abruptly canceling a vote
on extending provisions o f
the historic 1965 law that
are set to expire next year.
In a surprise reversal, U.S. House
Speaker Dennis Hastert and Republican
leaders took the legislation o ff the House
calendar on June 21, w ith promises to
renew efforts to pass it once the concerns
o f a few are resolved.
The b ill's detractors felt com pelled to
wait until a meeting o f House Republicans
on the day o f a scheduled flo o r vote, to air
their objections - not in May after the b ill
won nearly unanimous support from the
House Judiciary Com m ittee or after it was
introduced w ith widespread bipartisan
support from both chambers o f the U.S.
Congress.
E a rlie rth is year. H astert prom ised to
proceed q u ic k ly on the le g is la tio n , c a ll­
ing it one o f his top p rio ritie s . O r so he
said.
Since 1965. Congress has renewed
the act three tim es and added
three new p ro visio n s: e xte n d ­
ing the rig h t to vote to 18-year-
o ld s in 1970; p ro te ctin g vo tin g
rig h ts fo r n o n -E n g lish speak­
ers in 1975: and most co n te n ­
tio u s o f a ll creating m a jo rity
m in o rity c o n g re ssio n a l d is ­
tric ts in 1982.
The p ro visio n s most p ro b ­
lem atic to the act's detractors
are: federal o ve rsig h t o f v o t­
ing rules fo r nine states w ith do cu ­
mented h isto ry o f vo te r d is c rim in a tio n
- oth e rw ise know n as Section 5: and the
requirem ent o f fo re ig n language ballots
in areas w ith large p o p u la tio n s o f non-
E n g lish speakers.
Section 5, the so-called pre-clearance
p ro v is io n , requires areas covered to
subm it a ll proposed changes in v o tin g
law s to the U.S. D epartm ent o f Justice
fo r approval.
R eps. L y n n W e s tm o re la n d and
C h a rlie N o rw o o d , loudest o f the House
o bjectors, cla im e d the le g isla tio n un­
fa irly singles out certain ju ris d ic tio n s
because o f past d is c rim in a tio n . They
want the act to apply to a ll states re­
gardless o f past h isto ry o r none at a ll.
possibly rendering the law u n co n stitu ­
tional.
In a w ritte n statement, W estm oreland
said it made no sense to keep covered
states " in the penalty box fo r 66 years"
based on 1964 election results.
But. the m a jo rity o f a ll federal objec­
tions have occurred since 1982, when
to impose a photo id e n tific a tio n re q u ire ­
ment upon voters w ith o u t m aking p ro ­
visions fo r those w ho c o u ld n 't a ffo rd to
shell out $20 fo r a fiv e -y e a r state-
issued ID .
The state's pre-clearance plan re ­
ceived U.S. Justice Departm ent approval
in A ugust o f 2(8)5. o ve r s ta ff o b je c­
tions, o n ly to fa il in the courts. A U.S
D is tric t C o u rt struck it d o w n , co m p a r­
Earlier this year, (House
Speaker) Hastert promised to
proceed quickly on the legislation,
calling it one o f his top priorities.
Or so he said.
Section 5 was last reauthorized, attest­
ing to the persistence o f d is c rim in a tio n
that exists in areas covered by the act.
For the past 40 years, my ow n home
state o f L ouisiana has yet to produce a
vo tin g plan that garnered Justice D e­
partment approval the tirs i tim e through.
It should not be surprising that both
W estm oreland and N o rw o o d hail from
Georgia, where, the state legislature tried
ing it to an u n co n stitu tio n a l p o ll tax.
U.S. D is tric t Judge H arold M urphy co n ­
cluded that it w ould "m o st lik e ly have
prevented G e o rg ia 's e ld e rly, poor and
A fric a n -A m e ric a n voters fro m v o tin g .”
Had the courts not intervened in G eor­
gia, poor, e ld e rly and A fric a n A m erican
w o u ld have lost th e ir v o tin g rights.
So, it's obvious that w h ile m ajor
strides have been made, there's s till
vast room fo r im provem ent.
The V o tin g R ights A c t's enactm ent
was a hard-w on v icto ry o f the c iv il rights
m ovem ent A gainst the backdrop o f the
"B lo o d y S unday" v iolence against c iv il
rig h ts dem onstrators in Selma. A la .,
President Ly ndon Johnson unveiled the
le g isla tio n to Congress on M arch 15,
1965. Nearly five months later, he signed
it in to law a fte r it passed House and
Senate m uster w ith only token o p p o si­
tio n . m ainly from law m akers in states
covered by Section 5.
Back then, anti-civ il rights extrem ists
tried to use sta llin g tactics, m is in fo rm a ­
tio n and obfuscation to thw art that h is ­
to ric act in the face o f bipartisan sup­
port. Those tactics ta ile d then and I ’ m
co n fid e n t th e y 'll fa il again.
A sm all but determ ined group o f e x ­
trem ists is try in g to stand in the way o f
progress.
We urge Speaker Hastert to im m e d i­
ately schedule a flo o r vole on the V o t­
ing R ights A ct reau th o riza tio n because
it is clear that it enjoys the support o f a
substantial m a jo rity o f House la w m a k ­
ers and is lik e ly to pass o v e rw h e lm ­
in g ly .
Marc H. Maria! is president and chief
executive officer of the National Urban
League.
Medicare Drug Scam Alert
Campaign Rap Song is a Winner
A n o th e r co n su m e r a le rt has
been issued re g a rd in g a te le ­
‘Vote 4 Miss
Angela’
catches on
sticks in your head."
Moore asked now -13-
year-old Keenan Mathews,
who performs under the
stage name Pootah, to
record the song last year
after she caught his act at
a charity show in Atlanta.
"M ake the right choice/
be heard w ith your voice,"
he raps in the song, before
rhym ing "M iss A n g e la "
w ith "sending out an SOS
from here to Los Angeles."
The rap ends w ith a re­
peated chant o f "V o te or
die" - a line borrowed from
a 2(8)4 g e t-out-thc-vote
campaign lead by rap p ro ­
ducer Sean "P. D id d y "
Combs.
(A P ) — A n obscure can­
didate in adow n-ticket G eor­
gia race is getting some much-
needed attention from a rap
campaign song that pummels
voters w ith a simple, m ind-
num bing lyric: "V o te 4 Miss
A n g e la ."
That's Angela Moore, a
43-year-old medical person­
nel company owner making
her first run fo r o ffic e in
G eorgia's Dem ocratic p ri­
mary fo r secretary o f state.
She was re la tiv e ly un­
known until hercampaign rap,
w ritten and performed by a
12-year-old boy, began m ak­
ing the rounds on the Internet.
It has received 26,0(8) hits in
first three weeks it's been
posted on hercam paign Web
site.
"E ven I get tired o f hear­
ing. ‘ Vote fo r Miss Angela!
Vole fo r Miss A n g e la !"’ she
A ngela M o o re (rig h t) s h a re s a laugh w ith ra p p e r Keenan "P o o ta h " M athew s.
said, referring to the song's
She is c re a tin g a p o litic a l m u s ic buzz w ith h is "V ote 4 M is s A n g e la " cam paign
repetitive intro and chorus.
ra p s o n g in a race fo r G eorgia S e cre ta ry o f S tate. (AP ph o to )
“ But, you know what? It
The song q u ickly be­
came an entertaining diver­
sion among Georgia p o liti­
cal types - getting fo r­
warded ine-mailsandeven-
tually cropping upon blogs
including W onkette.com .
the Washington site that
touts itse lf as "p o litics fo r
people w ith d irty m inds."
P o litica l analysts say
the song may be just the
kind o f thing a relatively
unknown candidate needs.
on
th e
schem e
re q u e s ts
h ig h e r d o lla r a m o u n ts and
phone s o lic ita tio n to d e fra u d
p ro m is e s a n e w
seniors and people w ith d is ­
ca rd , instead o f a p re s c rip ­
a b ilitie s.
tio n d ru g plan.
M e d ic a re
T h e "2 9 9 R in g ” schem e o f ­
T he new M e d ic a re card o r
fe rs M e d ic a re b e n e fic ia rie s
p re s c rip tio n d ru g p lan they
p ro m is in g a new p re s c rip tio n
c la im to be s e llin g is not le ­
d ru g ca rd fo r a fla t fee o f
g itim a te .
$299, and requests b e n e fic ia ry
" B y g e ttin g the message
ba n k a cco u n t n u m b e rs that
o u t to M e d ica re b e n e fic ia rie s
are then used to e le c tro n ic a lly
about h o w th e y can a v o id
w ith d ra w the m oney.
scams, w e 'v e seen the n u m ­
T h e C enters fo r M e d ica re
&
M e d ic a id
S e rv ic e s
has
learned that a new v a ria tio n
RE s V tì u L d U i TÒ ? N
ber o f in c id e n ts g o d o w n ,”
s a id
p V rtiu P f s ! 1
FROM THE GUYS
W H O BROUGHT YOU W H T I CH C KS
MARION WAYANS
CMS
A d m in is t r a t o r
M a rk B. M c C le lla n .
!
i l j e J ln r tla n î) (O b s rru rr
invite you and a guest to a
special advance screening
SHAWN WAYANS
LiTTLEMAN
LITTLE
MAN
WED., JULY 12
7:00PM
Come catch “ Little Man" on the
big screen this summer!
Pick up a complimentary
pass for two at
I l t r P n rtla u h Olhsrrurr
BIG THINGS
COM£ IN
SMAll PACKAGES
4747 NE M.L.K Jr. Blvd
Portland, OR 97211
JULY
Seats available on a lirst-come.
first-served basis
Limit one pass per person
No purchase necessary
No phone calls
While supplies last
Sexual Predator Information Online
Oregon State Police have gone
online w ith a new website w hich
publishes in fo rm a tio n regarding
dangerous sex offenders in the state
by zipcode and other geographical
information.
The site was established in ac­
cordance w ith a new Oregon law to
provide inform ation such as name,
address, physical descriptions, p ic ­
tures and conditions o f release re­
garding high-risk offenders.
“ This is one o f many tools we
need to keep our communities safe,”
said Gov. Ted Kulongoski. " It is
important to remember that most
sexual offenders have never been
convicted and are therefore not in
this database. This is w hy it is im ­
perative for parents to be ever v ig i­
are classified as predatory or sexu­
a lly v io le n t dangerous o ffe n d ­
ers. These offenders are required
to register fo r life under Oregon
law.
Not all sex offenders are classi­
fied as "predatory," so not every
person who has been convicted o f
a sexual offense w ill be listed on the
website.
The website can be accessed at
sexoffenders.oregon.gov.
This film is rated PG-13 for crude
and sexual humor throughout
language and brief drug references
man OPENS NATIONWIDE JULY 14
SEASONS
lant o f o u rch ild re n and w ith whom
they associate.”
There are approximately 7(8) reg­
istered sex offenders in Oregon who
R K ET
Advocate Joins OHSU Board
Roman D . Hernandez, a P ort­
la n d a tto rn e y w ith
AT A R B O R
S ch w a b e ,
LO D G E
W illia m s o n & W ya tt, has been
appointed to the O regon Health
& Science U n iv e rs ity Board o f
y&f /
D ire cto rs by Oregon G o v. Ted
Me are a reputarpharmacy!
K ulongoski.
V \Nc' fill p re s c rip tio n s — in c lu d in g a n tib io tic s ,
h ig h b lo o d p r e s s u r e m e d ic a tio n s
a n ti d e p r e s s a n ts b irth c o n tr o l, a n d m o re .
Hernandez is the im m ediate
past president o f the board o f
d ire cto rs o f the P ortland H is
panic C ham ber and continues to
| r We have k n o w le d g e a b le , frie n d ly p h a r m a c is ts
w h o h a v e th e tim e to s h a re in fo r m a tio n
serve on the cham ber's board.
He serves as regional president
fo r the H ispanic N a tio n al Bar
|Z
A ssociation fo r the Pacific N o rth ­
west region.
a re co m p e titive W e ac< ept m<
in s u r a n c e p la n s a n d a re a d d in g o th e r s a s
r e q u e s te d
In his legal w o rk , he focuses
on defe n d in g businesses in co n ­
R om an D. H e rn a n d e z
nection w ith e m ploym ent-related
nearly fiv e years where he at­
claim s.
tained the rank o f captain. O ve r
H is la w career began in 1999
the past several years. Hernandez
w hen he cle rke d at Schwabe.
has devoted m any hours tow ard
P rio r to la w sch txil. he served in
c o m m u n ity and c iv ic in v o lv e ­
the U n ite d States A ir Force fo r
m ent.
w W e s p e c ia liz e in c u s to n
M eet your P* Tarmaci
M elinda B u t er
Y O U R L O C A L L Y O W N E D . N E IG H B O R H O O D
PH A R M A C Y AT ARBO R LO DG E
N IN T E R S T A T E A V E N U E & P O R T L A N D B L V D • 5 0 3 4 6 7 .4 8 4 8
w w w .n e w s c a s o n s m a rk 0 l.c o m • M O N -F R I 9 a m -7 p m • SAT 9 a m -6 p m • S U N 1 0 a m -4 p m