WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.) today released the following statement on the 50th anniversary of the original introduction of the Voting Rights Act.
“Two weeks ago, I gathered with colleagues, civil rights leaders, and Americans from across the country in Selma, Alabama to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Congressman John Lewis, and so many other brave men and women who marched over the Edmund Pettus Bridge 50 years ago. Many of those Americans were beaten, humiliated, and arrested simply because they dared to demand equal voting rights, and a half century later, we celebrated their sacrifices and their accomplishments.
“Today, we mark another 50 year anniversary to remember the day when the Voting Rights Act was first introduced in Congress. This landmark legislation, first proposed by President Lyndon Johnson, sought to fulfill the promise of the Fifteenth Amendment and ensure that no person would be denied the right to vote because of the color of his or her skin. Since its passage, the Voting Rights Act has accomplished much, but with the Supreme Court's 2013 decision to gut a key part of that law that protects against new laws and ongoing efforts, particularly at the state level, to deny millions of Americans their right to vote, President Obama is right to say that 'our march is not yet finished.'
“Today’s America is not the America of 50 years ago, just as today’s hurdles to the ballot box are not Jim Crow. But in too many cities and towns, states and counties, new roadblocks are being built to make it more difficult for some Americans to vote.
“Just as Republicans and Democrats came together in 1965 after President Johnson spoke for ‘the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy,’ it is my sincere hope that we too will come together to meet the new challenges our democracy faces. In the coming weeks, I will join my colleague, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, in introducing the Voting Rights Amendment Act to restore and improve the original law, and I will personally lobby all of my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, to join us.
“Today, 50 years after Congress first took those historic steps to give all Americans access to the ballot, we should pledge that our freedoms will not fall victim to division, but will instead be strengthened by our union.”