Voting Rights Acts reactions

Several Texas lawmakers weighed in Tuesday afternoon in the wake of the Supreme Court's Voting Rights Act decision.

"The courts have found intentional voter discrimination and suppression in Texas as recently as this past year.  Fortunately for Texans, Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act has been successfully used as a tool for the past 38 years to ensure that these anti-democracy efforts are not implemented. Today's Supreme Court decision effectively allows these extreme laws to go into effect in places where voter suppression legislation is being pushed through state legislatures. This decision is a major setback for Texans and all Americans whose most fundamental voting rights are being trampled in right-wing state legislatures. In Texas, following today's decision, the Attorney General is already calling on the most extreme voting ID laws to be implemented in our state.  I am committed to working with my colleagues in Congress to act swiftly to ensure that all Americans have the freedom to be full participants of our democracy by protecting every American's right to vote."

"At a time when U.S. carbon emissions are down, the President's insistence on pushing through more regulations and higher energy costs by executive order is especially puzzling.

"Rather than engage in a permanent war on America's energy producers, the President should look for bipartisan, commonsense solutions that will harness the power of our myriad resources right here at home."

• Rep. Villarreal issued the following statement:

"This ruling is problematic for citizens of Texas because Texas politicians have a long history of trampling the voting rights of our citizens. Just last year federal judges stopped the state's redistricting plans, finding that the state legislature intentionally discriminated against minority voters. I call on Congress to create a new mechanism to prevent such efforts from going into effect."