San Francisco – Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement marking ten years since the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder decision in 2013, which gutted the protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965:

“The right to vote is a sacred promise of our Democracy.  But with its ruling in Shelby v. Holder ten years ago today, as the late Congressman John Lewis said, the Supreme Court stuck a dagger in the heart of the Voting Rights Act: diminishing our Democracy by allowing acts of voter suppression to run rampant across America.

“While it is welcome news that the Supreme Court spared the Voting Rights Act with its recent ruling, rescuing our Democracy demands that the Congress enact our John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.  This measure – which the Democratic House passed twice – would restore the preclearance requirement, which is the heart of the VRA.  At the same time, we must enact Democrats’ For The People Act to tear down barriers to voting, outlaw partisan gerrymanders, empower the grassroots and cut off the flood of big dark money in our elections.

“House Republicans must now join Democrats in honoring our patriotic duty, making this legislation the law of the land and securing the right to vote for generations to come.”