Lyndon Johnson’s daughter defends her father’s cause on the 56th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act

President Lyndon Johnson enacted the Voting Rights Act this weekend, 56 years ago. As historic legislation is again debated, Johnson’s daughter takes up the cause.

Luci Baines Johnson was 18 when her father signed the deed. “I supported my father on August 6, 1965, when he enacted the Voting Rights Act,” she said.

Today, at 74, she still stands behind her father.

When asked if her father’s legacy was at stake, she replied, “Well, let me put it that way. A lot has been dismantled.”

President Lyndon Johnson’s youngest daughter has embarked on a crusade for the right to vote, one of her administration’s signatures.

“We have backed down in a way that breaks my heart,” she said.

The law on the right to vote was renewed several times, most recent in 2006 with bipartisan support. But in 2013, the United States Supreme Court struck down federal election monitoring, a key piece of the law designed to keep tabs on states with a history of discrimination against minority voters. The court ruled that such oversight was no longer necessary due to changes made by states since 1965.

“Several years ago the Supreme Court literally emptied the core of the 1965 franchise law,” Johnson told CBS News, “and states across the country – I think he’s 18 years now – working quickly and hard to do whatever they can to decrease the possibility of voting, for all of us, but especially for people of color, especially for the poor, and especially for the elderly. And I am here to say nothing more.

When asked what his father would think of what was going on, Johnson said: “I think he would be there, fighting hard.”

Johnson traveled from Texas to Washington this week to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris and urge Congress to act.

“These are brave people on both sides of the aisle who must now stand up and be counted. They must be like those lawmakers were in 65,” she said. “They stood up with us. They voted with us.”