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The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) reauthorization seems to be back on track as the Senate swiftly passed the bill, 98-0, on July 20.

After GOP meddling in the House held up the bill for over three weeks, the Senate passed "The Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King and Cesar Chavez Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006," in two days. The Senate Judiciary voted the bill out of committee, 18-0, on July 19 and the full Senate followed suit on July 20.

Civil rights leaders hailed the Senate's action on a law many consider one of the most important civil rights laws enacted during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. The Senate vote was overwhelming, topping the Senate vote of 85-7 for the 1982 authorization.

"This is an historic day not just for minorities but for all Americans," said Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR). "Today, Congress should be applauded and celebrated for its role in reauthorizing the most transformative civil rights law in the nation--a transformation that is the envy of the world when it thinks about democracy."

Civil rights groups are particularly happy that the bill passed without any major amendments. In the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Patrick Leahy, D. Vt., proposed an amendment to add the name of Mexican-American labor leader Cesar Chavez to the title of the bill, which was unanimously accepted.

"The leadership of Sens. Specter, Kennedy, Leahy and DeWine was critical," said Henderson. "They understood the importance of passing the bill without amendment, restoring the law to its original strength and vitality."

The momentum the bill built since its May 2 bipartisan, bicameral introduction and its 33-1 House Judiciary Committee vote on May 10 was derailed June 21 by a small group of House Republicans, led by Lynn Westmoreland, R.Ga. They claimed that the VRA is punitive.

On June 28, Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fl., proposed an amendment that would have kept the Department of Justice from enforcing the language assistance provisions of the VRA, effectively gutting the law. After intense debate on the floor, which included eloquent and passionate speeches in opposition to the amendment by Rep. Mike Honda, D. Calif., and civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, D. Ga., the amendment was defeated by a vote of 254-167.

The civil rights community was incensed at the hijacking of a law that changed the face of American politics. LCCR's Henderson noted that many of the House Republican troublemakers represented places with "the most egregious records of discrimination in voting."

The expiring provisions include: Section 5, the federal preclearance provision; Section 203, which requires certain jurisdictions to provide language assistance to citizens who do not speak English fluently; and Sections 6-9, which authorize the Department of Justice to send federal examiners and observers to monitor elections.

Over the last 40 years, the VRA has been renewed four times by bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate and signed into law by both Republican and Democratic presidents. 

By Tyler Lewis

www.civilrights.org