New York, N.Y. - July 19, 2006 - National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial today lauded the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee for approving the Voting Rights Act reauthorization (H.R. 9) without amendment by a vote of 18 to 0. Originally enacted in 1965, the Voting Rights Act has enfranchised millions of African American citizens by eliminating discriminatory practices, such as literacy tests, poll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. "In light of the House's overwhelming passage of the legislation last week, today's unanimous support by the Senate Judiciary Committee bodes extremely well for the bill's ultimate passage on the Senate floor and enactment this year before the August recess," Morial said. "Still, we must resist becoming complacent. We must keep the heat up under congressional lawmakers in our efforts to get this important piece of legislation passed by the full Senate and signed into law as soon as humanly possible." The bill, entitled The Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King and Cesar Chavez 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.

In June, 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. However, the day after the start of a voting rights vigil at the U.S. Capitol, spearheaded by the National Urban League and other civil rights organizations, the measure was brought to a vote in the House and passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 390 to 33.

"It has been a long and difficult road, but the resounding victory in the House and today's unanimous committee vote put us closer to our goal of reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act," Morial added. "I call upon the full Senate to immediately pass this measure and send it to the president's desk without delay."

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

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