Today, Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell (AL-07) released the following statement after the Supreme Court ruled to strike down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

“Today’s Supreme Court ruling is a major setback for voting rights in this country. As a native of Selma and the U.S. Representative who now represents the civil rights district of Alabama, I know that the injustices suffered on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday 1965 have not been fully vindicated. Unfortunately, the State of Alabama and this nation still has much work to do. The facts of the Shelby County case prove this very point. It is terribly ironic that the state responsible for the enactment of the Voting Rights Act is now being used by the Supreme Court to dismantle the core of that Act.  We cannot rejoice in the failure of our nation’s highest court to uphold voter protections that were so hard fought.

By striking down the coverage formula in Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, the Supreme Court has ostensibly nullified the effects of the preclearance provisions of Section 5 in total disregard of the facts Congress relied upon when it overwhelmingly reauthorized the Act in 2006.

As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of so many milestones in the Civil Rights Movement, today’s decision reminds us that while we have the right to vote, that right is not without pervasive threats. It is now incumbent upon Congress to act quickly in developing a new coverage formula and I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in protecting all Americans right to vote.”

###

Contact: Rob NeSmith;      rob.nesmith@mail.house.gov;       202.225.2665