Due to the rising number of state governments across the country that have enacted an array of new laws making it harder to register and to vote, the Congressional Black Caucus has been called into duty again.

Washington,DC– Today, the Congressional Black Caucus will hold their inaugural Faith Leaders Summit in conjunction with the Conference of National Black Churches during their Annual Consultation.

Hundreds of our nation’s leading African American church leaders will gather to discuss major voting rights issues facing our community.  Attorney General Eric Holder will give the keynote address and voting rights experts will lead the day of discussion around the complexities surrounding new state voting laws.

“The attack on voting rights is not only coordinated, it is dangerous and it is the worst we’ve seen since Jim Crow.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called voting the ‘foundation stone for political action.’ The laws restricting access significantly chip away from that stone,” said Chairman Emanuel Cleaver.

“Given the immense challenge before us, the CBC has decided to take this matter into our own hands and this time we are working with theBlackChurch, which has diligently served our community for over 200 years fighting for freedom, justice, and equality when African Americans had nowhere else to turn.”

Forty-one years ago, the Congressional Black Caucus was founded “to positively influence the course of events pertinent to African Americans and others of similar experience and situation” and in years since, we have earned the moniker “the Conscience of the Congress” because of our unyielding commitment to our communities and our country.

Due to the rising number of state governments across the country that have enacted an array of new laws making it harder to register and to vote, the Congressional Black Caucus has been called into duty again.

The argument of voter fraud in our nation lacks any real substantial evidence and it is  beyond clear that these laws will do more to suppress the rights of voters than to safeguard our voting system.  As our economy still struggles to recover and overall unemployment hovers around 8 percent and reaches into the double digits for African Americans, we cannot idly stand by and watch as the rights are stripped from hurting people. As elected officials – whether local, state, or federal – it is our obligation to not only encourage our constituents to vote, but to ensure the voting process is easy.

The National Conference of Black Churches (CNBC) holds their “National Consultation” event annually. The CNBC is comprised of nine denominations that represent congregations all over theUnited States, with an estimated reach of over 10 million. Their membership includes nine denominations: African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church,  ChurchofGodin Christ, Full Gospel Baptist Church International, National Baptist Convention Inc, International, The National Baptist ConventionUSA, Inc, The National Missionary Baptist Convention of America, and the Progressive National Convention, Inc.

However, during the summit the event is open to all faiths and denominations.