President Bush is scheduled to sign the bill into law on Thursday July 27 at 9:30 a.m. at the White House.

Originally enacted in 1965, the Voting Rights Act has enfranchised millions of African American citizens by eliminating discriminatory practices, such as literacy tests, poll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.

"Just over a month ago, a few vocal dissenters attempted to hijack the Voting Rights Act renewal just as it was scheduled to hit the House floor for a vote, raising concerns that the bill wouldn't pass this year. Even on the morning of the eventual House vote, a cloud of doubt swirled around the cause. Press reports had even described the reauthorization's prospects as dim," Morial observed.

"Fortunately, the wishes of a broad bipartisan and bicameral coalition prevailed in quieting the token opposition by a wide margin and extending provisions of one of the most important and historic civil rights laws for another 25 years," Morial said.

Morial applauded the work of the House and Senate leadership from both sides of the aisle, the Congressional Black Caucus and civil rights community. "I also must thank the president for lending his full support behind the legislation," he added.

The bill, entitled The Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006, renews provisions of the 1965 historic act that were 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 "pre-clearance" 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 raised concerns about key provisions. Some of those objectors had the opportunity won the right to offer amendments that would have essentially gutted the original intent of the legislation. 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.