The Voting Rights Act (VRA) passed with overwhelming majorities in the House of Representatives (328–74) and the Senate (79–18). Johnson signed the bill into law on August 6, 1965.101 Clarence Mitchell, the chief Washington lobbyist for the NAACP, said, “After five years of shameful events that increased tensions at home and caused embarrassment abroad, Congress finally gave a remedy it could have given in 1960.”102
