- Assign. eds., reporters note: Nelson will address the NAACP at 9:30 a.m. Monday at the Orange County Convention Center, 9800 International Drive in Orlando. He'll be available afterward to media. A local contact is Celeste Brown at 407-506-6057. -

(BLACK PR WIRE) – ORLANDO - Congress may be dysfunctional but lawmakers still must be pushed hard for a quick fix to the Voting Rights Act if there are to be adequate safeguards in place in time for next year’s mid-term elections, a U.S. senator will urge the national NAACP Monday.

“We shall not be moved back to a time before the Voting Rights Act,” Sen. Bill Nelson will say, according to an advance copy of his prepared remarks. “Do not ever let anyone keep souls from the polls.”

The Florida Democrat is scheduled to deliver a brief address at the NAACP 104th annual convention Monday morning in Orlando, preceding the keynote by NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous, former director of the U.S. Human Rights Program at Amnesty International.

Nelson, according to his prepared remarks, will slam the Supreme Court for its recent ruling on the Voting Rights Act and for weakening the election protections it has provided since the mid-1960s.

“It hammered a stake into the law that’s been guaranteeing fair elections in this country since the 1960s,” Nelson says. “Now it’s left up to a dysfunctional Congress to fix the law. And who in here hasn’t lost confidence in Washington’s ability to get things done?”

The theme of the NAACP convention is “We shall not be moved.” And the highlight Monday, following Nelson’s remarks, will be the keynote by Jealous, who in 2008 at age 35 became the seventeenth and youngest person to lead the century-old NAACP. During his tenure, the association’s membership has increased three years in a row for the first time in more than two decades.

Following are Nelson’s remarks as prepared for delivery, and a media advisory from the NAACP:

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson
NAACP Annual Convention remarks (as prepared)
July 15, 2013

While I’d like to welcome you to the Sunshine State this morning, I regret - the sun isn’t shining as brightly today as yesterday - here, or in any state in America.

For that, we have the Supreme Court to thank.

You know what I mean: the Court just gutted the country’s Voting Rights Act. It hammered a stake into the law that’s been guaranteeing fair elections in this country since the 1960s.

Now it’s left up to a dysfunctional Congress to fix the law. And who in here hasn’t lost confidence in Washington’s ability to get things done ?

Since the Court decision, at least two states started pushing more restrictive voter laws.

Yes, the Court’s decision was gut-wrenching. And It needs to be fixed.

I can’t imagine facing next year’s elections without a Voting Rights Act.

To say America has changed since the 1960s is true. To say we no longer have voter suppression just is not true.

Now the suppression and intimidation is subtle. And you and I know it is.

Thank all of you for doing so much for so long to protect our right to vote, and for encouraging all Americans to exercise it.

“We Shall Not be Moved” – now more than ever - seems to be a fitting motto for this convention. Perhaps it should be: we shall not be moved back to a time before the Voting Rights Act.

Do not ever let anyone keep souls from the polls. and Together, “we shall not be moved.”

Thank you, and God bless America.

NAACP President & CEO to Keynote First Plenary Session at 104th NAACP Convention; Joined by Sen. Nelson & Lt. Gov. Brown

NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous to address NAACP delegates; Opening Remarks from Florida Senator Bill Nelson & Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown

WHO: Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP President and CEO; The Honorable Bill Nelson, Senator from Florida; The Honorable Anthony Brown, Lt. Governor of Maryland; Robert King, President UAW; and others

WHAT: On Monday, July 15th, NAACP President and CEO will deliver the keynote address at the First Plenary of the 104th NAACP Annual Convention.

President Jealous was elected in 2008 as the youngest person to lead the century-old NAACP. During his tenure, the Association’s online activists have swelled, donors have increased and its membership has increased three years in a row for the first time in more than 20 years.

The plenary session will also feature remarks from Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown. Sen. Nelson has been a leader on voting rights and Lt. Gov. Brown helped secure the repeal of the death penalty in Maryland.

WHERE & WHEN: Monday July 15th 9:30 a.m.
W A4, Orange County Convention Center

Register for media credentials here: https://donate.naacp.org/page/signup/press-registration-orlando

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest nonpartisan civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities. You can read more about the NAACP’s work and our five “Game Changer” issue areas here.