Originally enacted in 1965, the Voting Rights Act has enfranchised millions of African American citizens by eliminating discriminatory practices, such as literacy tests, poll taxes and other means, to discourage political participation.

"I must applaud U.S. House members for having the courage of their convictions to resist a few persistent obstructionists intent on derailing one of the most important civil rights laws on the books and on setting this country back decades," Morial said.

"The right to vote is one of our nation's most sacred rights. We must not forget those who came before us who made great sacrifices to ensure this right for everyone - regardless of race, income or literacy level. The House today sent a loud and clear message that the Voting Rights Act is not something to be messed with. This is a vote that lawmakers can truly be proud of," he added.

The bill, entitled The Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006, will renew provisions of the 1965 historic act that are set to expire in 2007.

These provisions include: Section 5, which requires covered jurisdictions with a long history of voting discrimination to obtain approval or "preclearance" from the U.S. Justice Department for changes in voting laws; Section 203, which requires certain jurisdictions with high concentrations of citizens with limited English proficiency and illiteracy rates higher than the national average to provide bi-lingual ballots; and Sections 6-9 that authorize the federal government to use observers in elections to monitor voting rights act compliance and document abuses.

Last month, the legislation was abruptly taken off the House calendar the morning of a scheduled vote after a small group of southern lawmakers voiced objections to key provisions.

On Wednesday, some of those dissenters won the right to offer four amendments, three of which would have seriously undermined the act's intent. One would have extended the expiring provisions 10 years as opposed to 25 years as originally proposed. All four were defeated soundly before the House went on to pass the legislation overwhelmingly by a vote of 390 to 33.

"I can't tell you how delighted I am that House lawmakers soundly rejected all efforts to undermine the reauthorization through so-called killer amendments," Morial said. "This bill is the product of outstanding leadership and bipartisan cooperation between the Congressional Black Caucus, House and Senate leadership and the civil rights community. Now that it has passed the House, we're looking forward for the U.S. Senate to continue this spirit of cooperation and commitment to do the right thing and get this reauthorization enacted before the legislative session ends for 2006."

To schedule an interview with Mr. Morial, call Ricky Clemons at 212-558-5371 or Stephanie Jones at 202-898-1604.