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Congressional action on Voting Rights may be deferred dream

Posted at 5:55 PM, Jul 17, 2013
and last updated 2013-07-17 17:55:07-04
By Halimah Abdullah, CNN

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a key portion of the landmark Voting Rights Act, activists and those in states with a history of disenfranchisement at the polls are pinning their hopes on congressional action.

But those hopes may be long deferred.

A member of Congress who shed blood during the long march to civil rights told a Senate committee on Wednesday that he believes the Voting Rights Act “is needed now more than ever.”

“The burden cannot be on those citizens whose rights were, or will be, violated. It is the duty of Congress to restore the life and soul to the Voting Rights Act,” said veteran congressman John Lewis.

“The day of the Supreme Court decision broke my heart. It made me want to cry,” the Georgia Democrat told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

CNN’s Ashley Killough and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.