The Senate's Constitutional Responsibility to Enforce the Fifteenth Amendment

Today, the Washington Post published my letter discussing the Constitution's 15th Amendment in light of the recent enactment of the Georgia voter suppression law, and the avalanche of similar laws around the country:

The 15th Amendment states that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." And it further states that "Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

In light of the voter-suppression laws signed by the governor of Georgia and similar laws on their way to enactment in many other states, it is clearly time for Congress to do its job, to "enforce [the 15th Amendment] by appropriate legislation."

If the Senate is faced with the choice between keeping the filibuster and enforcing the 15th Amendment, then the imperatives of the Constitution must take precedence over a Senate rule that was used in the 1950s and 1960s to thwart the Constitution. Senate Republicans need to look to their consciences. All Senate Democrats need to have the courage to look to what matter the most.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/letters-to-the-editor/on-the-georgia-voting-law/2021/03/30/85b39492-90a9-11eb-aadc-af78701a30ca_story.htm

Of course, the Post has word number limitations on letters it considers for publication; it published what I submitted.  If I had had the space, I would have provided this further context:

Congress sought to enforce the 15th Amendment during the First Reconstruction in the decade following the Civil War. Then Congress abandoned the field to the forces of White Supremacy for more than 80 years. In a very real sense, the victory for freedom won in the Civil War was then lost.

Finally, in 1964 and 1965 with the enactment of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, Congress started to do its job, beginning the Second Reconstruction -- seeking to finally secure the rights patriots fought and died for a century earlier.

Then, in Shelby County v. Holder in 2013, the Supreme Court cut the guts out of the Voting Rights Act. Now the Republican Party seeks to end the Second Reconstruction and revive the soul of the Confederacy. The enactment of the Georgia voter suppression legislation is just one example.

It is time for Congress to do its job under the 15th Amendment. If it cannot be done so long as the filibuster survives, and the choice is between the obstruction of the filibuster and the promise of the Gettysburg Address -- "Government of the people, by the people, and for the people" -- then can the choice made by patriotic, decent Americans be in doubt? Senate Republicans need to look to their consciences. And Senate Democrats need to look to what matters the most.