For Immediate Release

Press Release
August 2015
Contact: Joseph Yanis 718-596-0100

**Press Release**
Thursday August 6rd, 2015
Assemblyman Walter T. Mosley: 50 years later, The Voting Rights Act
On the 50-year anniversary of the Voting Rights Act we stand at a crucial juncture in the history
of the civil rights movement. Yesterdays federal court ruling striking down Texas draconian
voter I.D. law was a reaffirmation of the Voting Rights Act in the face of such an uncertain future.
After the bitter removal of the Section 5 pre-clearance provision of the law in last years Supreme
Court decision which required federal monitoring of certain states which have historically
disenfranchised black and minority communities, we are confronted with a resurgence of voter
restrictive measures all across the country.
In the past decade alone, we have seen dozens of state legislatures craft bills that challenge the
ability for hard working families of color to exercise one of the most fundamental tenets of this
republic; the right to vote. This sacred right is our voice in government, enshrined in the 14th and
15th amendments, it took the Voter Rights Act of 1965 to enforce and protect those very rights.
We cannot let these hard won victories be stripped away.
I say on this day let us renew our pledge to be the advocates of social justice and be ever vigilant
to safeguard this sacred right that others, a generation ago, fought for us. As our great civil rights
champions fade from living memory let us pick up their banner and march forward into the 21st
century to continue our pursuit for a more perfect union.
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