June 16, 2006

Renew the Voting Rights Act

TAKE ACTION NOW!

On Monday, join civil rights activists from around the country in making a toll-free call (1- 866-808-0065)

to Your Representatives and urge them to fully support H.R. 9 without amendment.

ISSUE: The historic 1965 Voting Rights Act must be reauthorized in this Congress. The House Judiciary Committee under the leadership of Chairman Sensenbrenner promptly sent to the House floor HR 9 The Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006 with overwhelming bipartisan support. House leaders, including Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH), have been important allies in the effort to renew and restore the Voting Rights Act and have indicated that they intend to bring H.R. 9 to the floor the week of June 19. Urge your Representative to support HR 9 without amendment.

BACKGROUND: certain provisions of the Voting Rights Act must be renewed periodically. This year, 25 years since the last renewal, three key provisions are expiring:

Section 5, which requires pre-clearance of voting changes in states and localities with a history of voting discrimination;

Section 203, which requires counties where more than 5 percent of citizens who are not native English speakers to provide language assistance; and

Sections 6-9 & 13, which authorizes the Department of Justice to send federal examiners and observers to monitor elections.

The USCCB Position: Bishop DiMarzio wrote to the Speaker and Majority Leader urging them to schedule a vote on HR 9: “The Catholic bishops have a longstanding commitment to civil rights, including the right to vote. ‘No Catholic with a good Christian conscience can fail to recognize the rights of all citizens to vote,’ wrote the Administrative Board of the National Catholic Welfare Conference (predecessor of the USCCB) in 1963. Portions of the Voting Rights Act were last renewed in 1992, with the support of the USCCB. The USCCB has continually emphasized the importance of voting and the right and responsibility of each citizen to vote, and has encouraged dioceses, parishes and other Catholic institutions to participate in non-partisan voting registration efforts.”

For more information: Thomas Shellabarger, 202.541.3189 or tshellabarger@usccb.org