House Delays Renewal of Voting Rights Act

WASHINGTON, June 20 — House Republican leaders today abruptly canceled a planned vote to renew the Voting Rights Act after a rank-and-file rebellion by lawmakers who say the civil rights measure unfairly singles out Southern states and promotes multi-lingual ballots.

Extension of Voting Act Is Likely Despite Criticism (March 29, 2006)The reversal represented a significant embarrassment for the party leadership, which has promised a vote on the landmark anti-discrimination law and hailed its imminent approval in a rare bipartisan press event on the steps of the Capitol last month.

But lawmakers critical of the bill mutinied in a closed meeting of House Republicans this morning just hours before the vote was expected to occur and several said it was uncertain whether a majority of Republicans would back the legislation at this point.

snip:
"The fact of the matter is that you have a small group of members who have hijacked this bill and many of these individuals represent states that have been in violation for along time," said Nancy M. Zirkin, deputy director of the Leadership Council on Civil Rights.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/21/washington/21cnd-votes.html?hp&ex=1150948800&en=e4a29f4284cbf696&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Anyone who doesn't support this ought to be ashamed of themselves. How much more will it take for people to get it. These repukes are against everything America stands for. :grr: