Washington (CNN) -- Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down a key portion of the landmark Voting Rights Act, activists and those in states with a history of disenfranchisement at the polls are pinning their hopes on congressional action. But those hopes may be long deferred. A member of Congress who shed blood during the long march to civil rights told a Senate committee on Wednesday that he believes the Voting Rights Act "is needed now more than ever." "The burden cannot be on those citizens whose rights were, or will be, violated. It is the duty of Congress to restore the life and soul to the Voting Rights Act," said veteran congressman John Lewis.
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Supreme Court struck down a key part of Voting Rights Act; left it to Congress to address gap
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There's little political incentive for a Republican-controlled House to change law
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Many Southern states moving forward with voting laws some see as onerous for minorities
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Experts say it may take a trend in discrimination in major elections to urge Congress to act
The ripple effects are being felt elsewhere as many of the 15 states — most of them in the @placeholder — that had required federal preclearance before changing voting practices began enacting new laws.