In Advance of Congressional Medal, Selma Foot Soldier Calls for VRA Restoration

Media 02.24.16

WASHINGTON – In advance of the Congressional Gold Medal presentation to the Selma voting rights foot soldiers, a foot soldier and a coalition of civil rights groups hosted a press call urging Congress to honor the marchers’ sacrifice by restoring the Voting Rights Act. 

Last February, the House and Senate voted unanimously to bestow the nation’s highest civilian honor upon the Selma-to-Montgomery marchers, whose bravery and sacrifice inspired Congress to write and pass the Voting Rights Act. But a year later, lawmakers have done nothing to advance two bipartisan bills that would restore the law that was gutted in a 2013 Supreme Court decision.

The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian honor that Congress can bestow and it will be presented at a bipartisan and bicameral ceremony on February 24th at 3:00 p.m. ET with Speaker Ryan, Minority Leader Pelosi, Majority Leader McConnell, Minority Leader Reid, and Representative Terri Sewell. Representative John Lewis and Reverend Frederick D. Reese will also attend the ceremony. 

Reverend C.T. Vivian:

“The Congress that wants to honor us won’t get its act together to restore what we’ve lost, what we worked so hard for…We won’t allow our legacy to be neutered and relegated to the museums. A medal will not mollify us. The way to truly honor our sacrifice is to fully restore the Voting Rights Act.”

 “Ask Black and Brown voters in North Carolina and Texas if their struggle is history. Ask them in Alabama where they are still trying to stop voters from getting drivers licenses and closing polling places in Black neighborhoods. This is not history. This is present day.”

Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights:

“This Congress has done nothing. It hasn’t even held a hearing on two bipartisan bills to restore what we lost. While Congress should honor [the marchers] for their courage and contribution to democracy, a medal is not nearly enough to redeem what was lost when the Voting Rights Act was gutted. Voter discrimination abounds, and to have the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee literally turn his back on it is shameful. This is not about partisan politics, but civil rights for the country as a whole.”

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

 

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