June 9, 2014

The Hon. Eric Cantor (Virginia), House Majority Leader

303 Cannon Building
Washington, DC 20515


RE: Request to meet concerning HB-3899, Voting Rights Amendment Act

Dear Leader Cantor:
Over the past several months we have observed an alarming ambiguity in your position on HB 3899.
This bill will fundamentally and intentionally change American elections into race-reliant battleelds
where, for the rst time in our history, the United States, as a legal matter, would EXCLUDE a majority
of Americans as a class from the full protection of the law based solely on the color of their skin. As
House Majority Leader you alone have the authority to bring this bill to a vote. Therefore, your
continued ambiguity on a bill that is so clearly and deeply awed is troubling to say the least.
On behalf of our organizations, and of the millions we collectively represent, we are compelled to reach
out to you directly and ask for a meeting to address the issue and your intentions.
HB 3899 was written in response to the U.S. Supreme Courts 2013 ruling to strike down an obsolete
part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that singled out certain states and local jurisdictions for federal
oversight based on 50-year old data, including Virginia. Having long outlived its intended utility, this
portion of the Act had in recent years become an easy mark for exploitation by partisan interests. It had
also served as a transparent excuse for federal ofcials to block common-sense election safeguards
enacted by the states, such as photo voter ID. The proposed bill as written would grant even greater
authority over common-sense election safeguards to Attorney General Eric Holder than was provided
under the original Act. It is important to note that the Supreme Court left the rest of the 1965 Voting
Rights Act, and its protections against intentional voter discrimination intact, and in so doing reafrmed
that a citizens vote is a civil right guaranteed toALLAmericans.
People interested in fair and honest elections - the indispensable requirement for a free people were
relieved when the Courts sensible ruling was announced. That is, until HR 3899 was introduced. This
bill would not only send the nation backward, it would give Attorney General Eric Holder and this
Administration a clear pathway to impose unprecedented federal oversight for any and all election law
changes nationwide, not just in certain states as provided under the single section of the 1965 Voting
Rights Act that the Supreme Court struck down.

Here are just a few of HB 3899s regressive requirements:

Forces racial gerrymandering, making race the predominant factor in elections and advancing the
partisan interests of one political party

Offers only a vague denition of "voting rights violations that are needed to trigger federal control
of elections in a jurisdiction, and even allows objections made by the Attorney General himself to
count as a violation and triggering event. Thus, Eric Holder can, in effect, use his own ndings of
disparate impact versus actual instances of discrimination, as he did with South Carolinas voter ID
law until it was reversed, in order to justify placing a state under DOJspre-clearancecontrol.

RequiresthatStates be placed under DOJspre-clearancerequirements whenever
DOJdetermines that ve voting rights violations occurred during a 15-year period, even if a state
is itself only cited for a single violation. This will impact states other than the nine originally
covered under the 1965 Act, including your home state. Clearly, the original nine states will
immediately be put under DOJs pre-clearance regime upon bill signing, but many more states will
assuredly follow after myriad groups launch deliberate litigation campaigns to establish the minimal
number of voting rights violations needed to trigger DOJ oversight.

Expands dramaticallythe Attorney Generals power to challenge any act prohibited by the 14th or
15th amendment of the U.S. constitution. Eric Holder the most partisan and ethically challenged
Attorney General in U.S. history cannot be given this kind of power. It would have allowed
Attorney General Janet Reno to intervene in (or bring) the Bush v. Gore case. The possibilities for
mischief are limitless.

Codies racial discrimination INTO the law, protecting only certain categories of citizens, not all
Americans, because it specically and explicitly excludes non-minorities from the full protection of
the Voting Rights Act under some parts of the bill despite convictions and other documented
Voting Rights Act violations by minorities, as well as non-minorities, across the country.

Leader Cantor, given the wide range of issues you deal with on a daily basis, we understand you may
not have had time to fully analyze HR 3899. We will be glad to share our organizations analyses, to
discuss our concerns, and most importantly, to work together to protect the hard won civil rights of all
Americans by stopping this destructive, discriminatory piece of legislation from advancing any further
than italreadyhas.
Wewill contact your staff early this week in an effort to coordinate a convenient meeting time in your
Washington, D.C. ofce.

Sincerely,

Gregg Phillips Hon. Ken Blackwell Gen. Ed Meese
VotersTrust SOSforSOS Super PAC American Civil Rights Union



Catherine Engelbrecht Christian Adams Anita MonCrief
True the Vote Election Law Center Black Conservatives Fund

CC: Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner


Georgia Republican Delegation
Rep. Jack Kingston
Rep. Lynn Westmoreland
Rep. Tom Price
Rep. Rob Woodall
Rep. Austin Scott
Rep. Doug Collins
Rep. Paul Broun
Rep. Phil Gingrey
Rep. Tom Graves
Mississippi Republican Delegation
Rep. Alan Nunnelee
Rep. Gregg Harper
Rep. Steven M. Palazzo
North Carolina Republican Delegation
Rep. Renee Ellmers
Rep. Walter Jones
Rep. Virginia Foxx
Rep. Howard Coble
Rep. Richard Hudson
Rep. Robert Pittenger
Rep. Patrick McHenry
Rep. Mark Meadows
Rep. George Holding
Louisiana Republican Delegation
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Rep. John Fleming
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Rep. Bill Cassidy
Texas Republican Assembly Delegation
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Rep. Ralph Hall
Rep. Jeb Hensarling
Rep. Joe Barton
Rep. John Culberson
Rep. Kevin Brady
Rep. Michael McCaul
Rep. Michael Conaway
Rep. Kay Granger
Rep. Mac Thornberry
Rep. Randy Weber
Rep. Bill Flores
Rep. Randy Neugebauer
Rep. Lamar Smith
Rep. Pete Olson
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Rep. Blake Farenthold
Rep. John Carter
Rep. Pete Sessions
Rep. Steve Stockman