; and (3) pursuant to section 2 of the 26th Amendment, Congress is empowered to enforce the article by appropriate legislation and acts accordingly in this Act. 3. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Over 50 years ago, on July 1, 1971, this Nation ratified into the Constitution of the United States the 26th Amendment, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years of age and outlawing the denial or abridgement of the right to vote on account of age. (2) Support for the 26th Amendment was nearly unanimous. The proposed constitutional amendment passed with bipartisan supermajorities, passing in the Senate with a vote of 94–0, and passing in the House of Representatives with a vote of 401–19. The 26th Amendment was approved by the requisite 38 States in less than 100 days, making it the quickest constitutional amendment to be ratified in United States history. (3) Support for lowering the voting age to 18 was championed across the aisle. President Dwight Eisenhower, former Commander of the Allied Forces, included the issue in his 1954 State of the Union Address. Moreover, President Richard Nixon emphasized his support for the 26th Amendment during its certification ceremony, describing that young people serve a critical role by infusing the practice of democracy with some idealism, some courage, some stamina, some high moral purpose that this Nation always needs, because a country, throughout history, we find, goes through ebbs and flows of idealism. . Similarly, Senate Majority Leader Michael Mansfield and Senator Ted Kennedy were key advocates of the measure, having first proposed a statutory route for lowering the voting age in the Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970 ( Public Law 91–285 ), in addition to supporting a path through constitutional ratification. (4) The Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970 ( Public Law 91–285 ) marked the first Federal law to enfranchise youth and outlaw age discrimination in accessing the franchise. In title III of that Act, Congress declared, with strong bipartisan support,