A broad coalition of civil rights groups will gather Wednesday evening on Capitol Hill for an "urgent call to action" to pressure the U.S. Congress to stop stalling and vote on the renewal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Black leaders say because congressional lawmakers have delayed voting on the re-authorization of the Voting Rights Act, many black Americans could find their right to vote in jeopardy.

News Update
House takes up Voting Rights Act renewal

Having quieted dissenting conservatives, House Republicans tried again Thursday to renew the 1965 Voting Rights Act in an election-year effort to win support from minority voters.

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"We are urging Congress to take action now," Melanie Campbell, executive director of the National Coalition of Black Civic Participation, told BlackAmericaWeb.com. "We need to push our [congressional] leadership to vote on this issue."

The vigil, which will be held at 6 p.m. on Capitol Hill in front of the Longworth House Office Building, has the support of a number of black civil rights organizations, including the NAACP, the National Urban League and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Charles Steele, the president of the SCLC, says the United States faces "a civil rights crisis" if Congress does not renew the Voting Rights Act, which helps protect minorities from measures that would restrict their right to vote.

Steele declared that the nation is "at a crossroads" in regards to providing equal opportunities to minorities.

"We can see the progress that minorities have made during the social, economic and political transformation over the last 30 years," Steele said in a statement. "But the conservative political climate is threatening to turn back the clock, end the progress and create a new wave of resentment and hatred towards minorities."

Stalling the reenactment of the Voting Rights Act is the latest example of attempts to turn back the clock on progress, Steele said, calling it "disingenuous" for Georgia Republican congressmen Lynn Westmoreland and Charlie Norwood to offer amendments that, on the surface, would appear to expand voting rights but actually could lead to the legislation being declared unconstitutional.

"They don't seem to understand that messing with someone's right to vote is serious business," Steele said. "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and many others died so African-Americans could vote. It is a fundamental right in our society. If efforts succeed that disenfranchise blacks, it will send the wrong message and further erode the belief that America can be a place where everyone is treated equal."

Rep. Mel Watt (D-NC), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said in a recent editorial that Congress has a moral obligation to renew the Voting Rights Act.

"A Congress with far fewer African-Americans, Latinos and Asian-Americans passed the Voting
Rights Act of 1965 because the right to vote had been denied for far too long," Watt wrote.

"Congress made a moral decision that it was the right thing to do for our democracy. It is time for Congress to make the same moral decision on the Voting Rights Reauthorization and Amendments Act of 2006," Watt said. "The Act merits passage because the record demonstrates that the work of assuring that every citizen has the right to vote in our democracy is still
incomplete."

NAACP president Bruce Gordon said passing the Voting Rights Act is a "no-brainer."

"Unlike many other issues, reauthorizing the VRA is a 'no-brainer' for most Congressional members," Gordon said in a statement. "The NAACP urges all members and friends to reach out to their representatives and senators to stress the urgency of passing a clean version" of the Voting Rights Act.

"In this election year, no elected official should want to be recorded as opposing one of this nation's most prized rights for all citizens-the right to vote," Gordon said. "We urge Congress to move now to revalidate this monumental legislation that empowers all Americans."

Meanwhile, Campbell told BlackAmericaWeb.com that all Americans should attend Wednesday’s vigil to show support for renewing the act and to put pressure of congressional leaders.

"The point is to protect our right to vote," Campbell said. "There needs to be a sense of urgency."

Campbell added that some Texas Republicans and other GOP lawmakers are holding up the vote.

"Americans across this country should be outraged by the tactics employed by a small yet extremist band of Congressional members to delay passage of H.R. 9, the Fannie Lou Hamer, Rosa Parks and Coretta Scott King Voting Rights Act Reauthorization," Campbell said in statement.

"I challenge our legislative leaders not to succumb to pressure brought to bear by a few of their colleagues representing states where voting rights violations remain commonplace occurrences for African-Americans and other ethnic minorities," Campbell said.

"The irony does not escape civil rights activists and thoughtful Americans that these actions are taking place on the eve of our nation’s 230th birthday," she added. "A date celebrated and commemorated as the day of independence and freedom."

Said Kevin Parker, a spokesman for The National Coalition of Black Civic Participation: "We’ll continue our vigil on Capitol Hill until Congress acts."