Washington DC- Today, U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) released a statement ahead of tomorrow’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service:
“Dr. King left us not only a legacy of service, but a legacy of civil rights laws that helped to make our Nation stronger, more equal, and truer to the principles upon which it was founded. The root of those efforts was the fight to fully participate in the process by which our country changes and makes progress. The right to vote has been called the most precious of our rights, the “primary right by which all other rights are protected.” Over the past few years, legislation and court decisions at both state and federal levels have been slowly chipping away at this right. The Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which struck down one of the key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, is an injustice that threatens equal access to the vote for millions of Americans. I cosponsored the Voting Rights Amendment Act, which would restore many of the protections stripped by the Shelby County decision. I believe that this legislation is a critical step that will expand equal access to the ballot, and Congress should take it up immediately in the 114th Congress. In addition to legislation, all of us, officials at all levels of government as well as citizens, must remain vigilant in protecting access to the political system, as well as doing our duty as citizens by exercising that right.”
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