[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 87 (Thursday, June 21, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1183]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      H.R. 2275, VOTING TECHNOLOGY

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. VERNON J. EHLERS

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 21, 2001

  Mr. EHLERS. Mr. Speaker, today I'm introducing H.R. 2275, along with 
my colleague and neighbor from Michigan, Congressman Barcia. This bill 
deals with a very important problem: ensuring that voting technologies 
are accurate, secure, reliable and easy to use.
  Last November, as the world placed Florida under a microscope to 
scrutinize its election, we saw just how vulnerable our nation's voting 
systems are to error. And in the months since, we've discovered that 
the problems that plagued Florida are rampant among many other states, 
but went unnoticed because the elections in those states were not 
nearly as close as in Florida.
  In the months since last November, we've also had the chance to 
explore solutions to the problem. We've discovered that we need to 
develop updated standards for voting systems to make sure that they 
perform reliably on election day. Updated standards can ensure that 
voting machines are accurate in tallying the ballots voter cast. And 
they can help reduce voter error by improving the usability of new 
voting technologies.
  And more importantly, as our voting systems begin to rely 
increasingly on computers to record, count and archive ballots and to 
transmit elections results over computer networks, we need standards to 
ensure that these systems meet the highest standards for computer 
security, so we can prevent hidden voter fraud by clever computer 
hackers.
  The Ehlers-Barcia bill addresses each of these concerns. It directs 
the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the nation's 
foremost experts on technology, computer security, and technical 
standards, to help develop updated standards to ensure the usability, 
accuracy, integrity, and security of our country's voting systems.
  NIST is the federal agency with the technical expertise needed to 
help create the technical standards necessary to improve our nation's 
voting systems. NIST is a tremendous technical resource that we must 
enlist to help solve this problem. It has a strong record of working 
cooperatively with diverse groups to develop standards by consensus. 
These groups would certainly include state and local elections 
officials, among others.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a complex problem, with complex solutions. I am 
proud to introduce this bipartisan bill today with my colleagues from 
Michigan because I believe it is an important part of the solution. I 
urge my colleagues to support the Ehlers-Barcia bill and work together 
with us to pass this important legislation.

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