Editing Voting Rights Act of 1965 (section)

====House of Representatives====
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|title="Remarks on the Signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965"
|description=Statement by United States President Johnson on August 6, 1965, about the Voting Rights Act of 1965
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|title2="Remarks on the Signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965"
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[[Emanuel Celler]] (D-NY), Chair of the [[House Judiciary Committee]], introduced the Voting Rights Act in the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] on March 19, 1965, as H.R. 6400.<ref name="acsc.lib.udel.edu"/> The House Judiciary Committee was the first committee to consider the bill. The committee's ranking Republican, [[William Moore McCulloch|William McCulloch]] (R-OH), generally supported expanding voting rights, but he opposed both the poll tax ban and the coverage formula, and he led opposition to the bill in committee. The committee eventually approved the bill on May 12, but it did not file its committee report until June 1.<ref name="Bending" />{{rp|162}} The bill included two amendments from subcommittee: a penalty for private persons who interfered with the right to vote and a prohibition of all poll taxes. The poll tax prohibition gained [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House]] [[John William McCormack|John McCormack]]'s support. The bill was next considered by the [[United States House Committee on Rules|Rules Committee]], whose chair, [[Howard W. Smith]] (D-VA), opposed the bill and delayed its consideration until June 24, when Celler initiated proceedings to have the bill discharged from committee.<ref name="acsc.lib.udel.edu"/> Under pressure from the bill's proponents, Smith allowed the bill to be released a week later, and the full House started debating the bill on July 6.<ref name=Bending />{{rp|163}}

To defeat the Voting Rights Act, McCulloch introduced an alternative bill, H.R. 7896. It would have allowed the attorney general to appoint federal registrars after receiving 25 serious complaints of discrimination against a jurisdiction, and it would have imposed a nationwide ban on literacy tests for persons who could prove they attained a sixth-grade education. McCulloch's bill was co-sponsored by [[House Minority Leader|House minority leader]] [[Gerald Ford]] (R-MI) and supported by Southern Democrats as an alternative to the Voting Rights Act.<ref name=Bending />{{rp|162–164}} The Johnson administration viewed H.R. 7896 as a serious threat to passing the Voting Rights Act. However, support for H.R. 7896 dissipated after [[William M. Tuck]] (D-VA) publicly said he preferred H.R. 7896 because the Voting Rights Act would legitimately ensure that African Americans could vote. His statement alienated most supporters of H.R. 7896, and the bill failed on the House floor by a 171–248 vote on July 9.<ref>{{cite web|title=House Vote #86 in 1965: To Recommit H.R. 6400, the 1965 Voting Rights Act, with Instructions to Substitute the Text of H.R. 7896 Prohibiting the Denial to Any Person of the Right to Register or to Vote Because of his Failure to Pay a Poll Tax or Any Other Such Tax, for the Language of the Committee Amendment|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/h86|work=govtrack.us|publisher=Civic Impulse, LLC|access-date=October 14, 2013}}</ref> Later that night, the House passed the Voting Rights Act by a 333–85 vote (Democrats 221–61, Republicans 112–24).<ref name=Bending />{{rp|163–165}}<ref name="acsc.lib.udel.edu"/><ref>{{cite web|title=House Vote #87 in 1965: To Pass H.R. 6400, the Voting Rights Act of 1965|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1965/h87|work=govtrack.us|publisher=Civic Impulse, LLC|access-date=October 14, 2013}}</ref>