Ruppersberger Attends White House Ceremony for Signing of the Voting Rights Act

(Washington, D.C.)- Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-D) joined a bi-partisan group of lawmakers at the White House today for the historic signing of the Voting Rights Act.  President Bush signed H.R. 9, the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006, into law this morning. 

“Even more than forty years after the Voting Rights Act was first signed into law, this measure still ensures millions of citizens that they are guaranteed the right to vote.  The bill is the most effective civil rights laws granting access to the ballot boxes for all Americans by eliminating discriminatory practices and other barriers.  I applaud passage of this historic and bi-partisan measure,” said Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD). 

Congressman Ruppersberger took the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and participated in a rally on Capitol Hill in support of the measure.  The bill passed the United States House of Representatives by a vote of 390 to 33 on July 13, 2006.  Congressman Ruppersberger joined other Members of Congress and civil rights leaders at a rally on the East steps of the Capitol on the eve before the historic vote on July 12, 2006. 

The Voting Rights Act of 2006 reauthorizes for 25 years key provisions of the original bill signed into law in 1965.  The provisions require jurisdictions with a history of discrimination in voting to get federal approval of any new voting practices or procedures, ensure that American citizens with limited English proficiency get the help they need at the polls, and authorize the Attorney General to appoint federal election observers where there is discrimination.  All provisions were set to expire in 2007.   

Feel free to use the attached photograph of the White House ceremony in your publication.

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