Rep. Peters Celebrates Voting Rights Act Anniversary, Calls for Bipartisan Action

SAN DIEGO – Today, Congressman Scott Peters (CA-52) released the following statement on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, which was signed into law by President Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1965:

“When I was growing up, my Dad, a now-retired Lutheran minister, fought to desegregate housing in the suburbs of Detroit and taught me that everyone has value, we all deserve equal treatment, and that our country is best served by ensuring a voice for all – including through the ballot box. On the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, we must celebrate how far we have come in making it easier for Americans to vote and stop efforts that curb the ability of our fellow citizens to cast their ballot. We should all be able to agree that our society is better off when we make it easier to fulfill the fundamental civic responsibility of voting.”

In the 113th Congress, Representative Peters was an early cosponsor of H.R. 3899, the “Voting Rights Amendment Act,” bipartisan legislation to strengthen the Voting Rights Act. In the 114th Congress, Peters has continued that advocacy as an original cosponsor to H.R. 12, Congressman John Lewis’ (GA-5) “Voter Empowerment Act.”

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