On Wednesday, More than 150 companies, including major businesses like PepsiCo, Macy’s, Ikea, Nestlé USA, Amazon and Target, signed on to a letter supporting the Voting Rights Act.
“Despite decades of progress, impediments to exercising the right to vote persist in many states, especially for communities of color. We need federal protections to safeguard this fundamental right for all Americans,” the companies said in the letter, obtained by NBC News.
The signatories, all U.S. employers, urged Congress to enact the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, named in honor of Rep. John Lewis, the longtime Democratic congressman from Georgia and leader of the civil rights movement who died last year. The measure was passed by the House last Congress, but it faces fierce opposition from Republicans in the Senate.
The letter comes after dozens of Texas Democrats fled the state for Washington to try to block a restrictive voting law from being passed. The members of the state House will attempt to run out the clock on a special session of the legislature while lobbying Congress for federal legislation, particularly the For the People Act.
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This spring, hundreds of corporations and business leaders voiced support for voting rights and opposed Republican-led restrictions being considered or enacted in states like Georgia and Texas.
In a speech Tuesday, President Joe Biden repeated his call for Congress to pass the bill.
