; Whereas since the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 have been vacated, among other effects, many States’ gerrymandered districts have gone unchallenged or have become less likely to be invalidated by the courts; Whereas these gerrymandered districts have been found to have a discriminatory impact on traditionally dis­en­fran­chised minorities through tactics that include cracking , diluting their voting power across many districts, and packing , concentrating minority voters’ power in one district to reduce their voting power in other districts; Whereas the courts have found the congressional and, in some cases, State legislative district maps in Texas, North Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Wisconsin to be gerrymandered districts that were created to favor some groups over others; Whereas the Shelby County v. Holder Supreme Court decision calls on Congress to update the formula in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to better match current data; Whereas in 22 States, some form of restrictive voting law has been instituted since 2013; Whereas these restrictive voting laws encompass cutbacks in early voting, voter roll purges, placement of faulty equipment in minority communities, requirement of photo identification—the procurement of which amounts to a modern day poll tax,—and elimination of same-day registration; Whereas these changes could outright disenfranchise or make voting much more difficult for more than 80 million minority, elderly, poor, and disabled voters, among other groups; Whereas in 2016 alone, discriminatory laws in North Carolina, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Texas were ruled to violate voters’ rights and overturned by the courts; Whereas there is much more work to be done to ensure all Americans have the right to vote; Whereas National Voter Registration Day is September 25; and Whereas the month of September would be an appropriate month to designate as National Voting Rights Month : Now, therefore, be it