Whereas the affirmation of the Declaration of Independence that all men are created equal too often has been disregarded throughout our Nation’s history; Whereas voting is the fundamental political right because it is preservative of all rights ; Whereas the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution prohibit racial discrimination in voting by the States; Whereas when Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, certain States employed tests and devices that were race-neutral on their face but were used to prevent racial minorities from registering and voting; Whereas when Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, certain States and their political subdivisions had resorted to substituting new discriminatory practices for ones that were enjoined by the Federal courts, requiring aggrieved plaintiffs to assume the burden of repeated litigation to vindicate their fourteenth and fifteenth amendment rights; Whereas Congress enacted section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to require certain States and political subdivisions to submit new or modified voting practices for Federal review before they can be used; Whereas Congress reauthorized section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in 1970, 1975, and 1982 after finding a continuing pattern of racial discrimination in voting by the covered jurisdictions; Whereas the Supreme Court repeatedly has upheld section 5 against constitutional challenges, and pointed to section 5 as a model for the appropriate exercise of Congress’ enforcement authority under the Reconstruction Amendments; Whereas section 5 has proven to be one of the most effective provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in blocking and deterring many thousands of discriminatory voting practices that would have denied or abridged the ability of minority citizens to register, vote, and elect candidates of their choice