Congresswoman Barbara Lee Responds to Voting Rights Act Ruling
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25, 2013
Contact: Carrie Adams (202) 225-2661
Washington, D.C.— Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee released the following statement as the court handed down their opinion on Section V of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder:
“Today’s Supreme Court decision is a serious blow to one of our most fundamental rights: the right to vote.
“We have seen time and again that discrimination is still alive today and that it remains a very real threat to millions of Americans seeking to exercise their right to vote. Discrimination is still haunting us, not in the form of a poll tax, but in a clear and coordinated effort to disenfranchise communities of color, older Americans, students, and other vulnerable populations. We should be making it easier for participation in this democratic process, not harder.
“This decision today has gutted a key piece of the most effective civil rights legislation ever enacted by Congress. That right is the heart and soul of our democracy, and we must defend it. I will continue to fight in Congress to ensure equal access to the polls and to ensure that the right to vote is never compromised.
“Today, I call on Republicans to come to the table with Democrats in a bipartisan way and work together on this enormously important issue.”
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Follow Barbara Lee on Facebook and Twitter at @RepBarbaraLee. To learn more, visit lee.house.gov.
Congresswoman Lee is a member of the Appropriations and Budget Committees, the Steering and Policy Committee, is a Senior Democratic Whip, former chair of both the Congressional Black Caucus and Progressive Caucus. She serves as chair of the newly formed Whip’s Task Force on Poverty and Opportunity.