Roll Call offers this report. Two snippets:

“Section 5 is obviously the key element that has to be reviewed and extended,” said Conyers, who added he believes it will be critical not to overload the legislation with “extraneous material that’s not already on it,” such as suggested provisions protecting the voting rights of former convicts.
Lawmakers also are expected to discuss the possibility of expanding Section 5 to apply nationwide, rather than to selected states with documented histories of discrimination.
Democrats, including Lewis, oppose such an expansion, asserting that it could weaken the act and open it to constitutional challenges.
“That would be the death of that section,” Lewis said. “In the final analysis, there will be a consensus that we should not tamper with the real essence of the act. It’s been very, very effective for the past 40 years.
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In the meantime, Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who sits on Specter’s panel, are continuing work on a bipartisan reauthorization bill.
Although the pair had hoped to introduce the legislation following the Labor Day recess, the committee’s schedule, including confirmation hearings for now-Chief Justice John Roberts, have delayed that effort, a Kennedy spokeswoman noted.