WASHINGTON - U.S. Representative Artur Davis (D-Birmingham) released the following statement today concerning the cancellation of the vote on reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act.

“I am disappointed that for the second time, the Voting Rights Act has been pulled off the House agenda.  The VRA has protected black and white southerners from election abuses for over 40 years, and we Alabamians should be thankful for it.  While the statute is complicated, it has worked and Congress should resist schemes to weaken it or to make it impossible to administer.  I hope that my Alabama colleagues in the House and Senate who have been on the other side of this issue will re-think their position.”