American churches welcome civil rights voter victory
-15/07/06
The National Council of
American churches welcome civil rights voter victory
-15/07/06
The National Council of Churches USA has expressed delight that the US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed, by a margin of 390 votes to 33, the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006.
The original Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed the requirement that would-be voters in the United States should take literacy tests or pay a poll tax to qualify for voter registration. In areas with less than 50% of eligible minority voters registered, it also provided for federal registration of voters, instead of the state or local registration which had often been denied to minorities and poor people.
The act also provided for oversight to registration, and the required authorised approval for any change in voting law in districts whose populations were at least 5% black.
It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on 6 August 1965. However the temporary provisions of the VRA have had to be renewed in 1970 and 1975, and have been due for consideration again in 2006, one year in advance of their 2007 expiration date.
A number of Republican lawmakers have tried to amend, delay or defeat renewal of the Act. In particular, an amendment from Steve King of Iowa sought to strip provisions from the Act that require translators or multilingual ballots to be provided for US citizens who do not speak English ñ even though Spanish is now a major second language.
Efforts to weaken the reauthorization were defeated in this weekís House of Representatives vote. The bill now moves onto the Senate and is expected to be voted on before the August recess.
The National Council of Churches USA 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 honoured 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 US Senate to follow the lead of the House of Representatives and reauthorize the Voting Rights Act without delay.”
The NCC is an ecumenical voice for 35 of America’s Protestant, Orthodox, Episcopal, historic black and peace churches, with nearly 45 million members in 100,000 congregations.
American churches welcome civil rights voter victory
-15/07/06
The National Council of Churches USA has expressed delight that the US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed, by a margin of 390 votes to 33, the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006.
The original Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed the requirement that would-be voters in the United States should take literacy tests or pay a poll tax to qualify for voter registration. In areas with less than 50% of eligible minority voters registered, it also provided for federal registration of voters, instead of the state or local registration which had often been denied to minorities and poor people.
The act also provided for oversight to registration, and the required authorised approval for any change in voting law in districts whose populations were at least 5% black.
It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on 6 August 1965. However the temporary provisions of the VRA have had to be renewed in 1970 and 1975, and have been due for consideration again in 2006, one year in advance of their 2007 expiration date.
A number of Republican lawmakers have tried to amend, delay or defeat renewal of the Act. In particular, an amendment from Steve King of Iowa sought to strip provisions from the Act that require translators or multilingual ballots to be provided for US citizens who do not speak English ñ even though Spanish is now a major second language.
Efforts to weaken the reauthorization were defeated in this weekís House of Representatives vote. The bill now moves onto the Senate and is expected to be voted on before the August recess.
The National Council of Churches USA 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 honoured 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 US Senate to follow the lead of the House of Representatives and reauthorize the Voting Rights Act without delay.”
The NCC is an ecumenical voice for 35 of America’s Protestant, Orthodox, Episcopal, historic black and peace churches, with nearly 45 million members in 100,000 congregations.