For weeks, the outcome of the battle to extend the act had been in doubt. Republican leaders had planned a vote in June. But they abruptly canceled it after conservative lawmakers objected to several provisions of the act .... The rebellion was an embarrassment for the Republican leadership.

Proposed amendments to weaken the Act were defeated. Now it's up to the Senate to take time away from debating silly constitutional amendments so that a vote can be scheduled on the reauthorization.

"For two months, we have wasted precious time as the Republican leadership played to its conservative base," said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader. "There are only 21 legislative days left in this Congress, and the time to act is now."

The ACLU championed the renewal. Its press release regarding the House vote is here, and more information about the importance of the Voting Rights Act is available at this website.

You can't believe much of anything Rep. Sensenbrenner says, including this: "This legislation proves our unbending commitment to voting rights." If Republicans were committed to voting rights, they would stop obsessing about the trivial problem of voters casting multiple votes, and focus instead on taking effective measures to assure that minority voters aren't intimidated or forced to stand in long lines at the polls, while making sure that every vote is counted.