Washington, D.C., July 14, 2006—The National Council of Churches USA praised the House of Representatives for overwhelmingly passing, by a margin of 390-33, H.R. 9, the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006. Efforts to weaken the reauthorization were also defeated in last night’s vote. The bill now moves onto the Senate and is expected to be voted on before the August recess. 

NCC released the following statement about this civil rights victory: 

“We applaud the House of Representatives for passing the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006 by an overwhelming majority. By doing so, they have honored the civil rights pioneers for whom this bill is named and moved our nation forward in the area of civil rights. Indeed, this is a great victory for all Americans! 

“It is unfortunate that our nation’s history demands that we take steps to ensure the right to vote for all of our citizens. The reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act will help us to take a giant leap forward as we continue our efforts to make sure everyone benefits from our democratic society.  

“We now call on the U.S. Senate to follow the lead of the House of Representatives and reauthorize the Voting Rights Act without delay.”