[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 174 (Friday, December 14, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2306-E2307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT OF 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. JOSEPH CROWLEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 12, 2001

  Mr. CROWLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3295, The 
Help America Vote Act. I would like to thank the gentleman from Ohio, 
Mr. Ney and the gentleman from Maryland, Mr. Hoyer for their diligent 
work in getting this legislation to the floor quickly enough for it to 
make a difference in the upcoming 2002 elections.
  The Presidential election of 2000 highlighted the numerous problems 
within our federal election system. Voting machines broke down, 
thousands of votes were discarded due to damaged ballots over or under 
votes and hanging, dimpled and pregnant chads. The situation was 
especially grave in our minority communities, especially African-
American neighborhoods. The United States election process broke down, 
as did the voter's confidence in it. We all came to this House just 
under a year ago, promising to immediately act to fix the many problems 
we discovered. Today we must take the opportunity to restore public 
confidence in the integrity of the electoral process.
  With the passage of this important legislation, we will finally 
demand minimum Federal standards for voter registration. H.R. 3295 
would also mandate minimum standards on the equipment used to cast 
ballots, and the procedure used to determine what is and is not a vote 
on every variety of voting machine used in this country. This will 
eliminate confusing and contradictory local laws that made

[[Page E2307]]

a mockery of the 2000 election's Florida recount. This will establish 
standards that every State must meet for every Federal election.
  Passage of this bill will also authorize $2.65 billion in funds to 
help meet these new high standards by replacing outdated voting 
equipment, and educate voters about the election process. Of this 
money, $400 million is to help States replace outdated and unreliable 
punch card voting systems, the antiquated system which led to the 
Florida turmoil, and another $2.25 billion is to help States improve 
their equipment, provide greater access to disabilities, better train 
poll workers, and educate voters about their rights.
  Although I support this bill as a good start towards desperately 
needed reform, I recognize that it does not solve all of our election 
difficulties. I am very disappointed that the Rules Committee did not 
make in order the amendment offered by my good friends Mr. Menendez of 
New Jersey, Ms. DeLauro of Connecticut, and Ms. Johnson of Texas. Their 
amendment would have solved many of the deficiencies contained in the 
bill, and make it more compatible with the bills currently being 
considered in the Senate.
  Their amendment would mandate that the voting authorities begin to 
inform voters of a mistake in their ballot of voting for either too few 
or too many candidates. Nearly 200,000 ballots were thrown out of the 
Florida Presidential ballot because of over or under counting, and the 
technology to prevent this from occurring again is available. We should 
be using it.
  The amendment would also require accessibility to alternative 
language voting for people with a limited grasp of English. This is a 
vital issue to me because the people in my congressional district, the 
Seventh District of New York, are native speakers of over 70 different 
languages. These hard working American citizens are just as entitled to 
vote as everyone else and should not be intimidated by the electoral 
process--something every citizen should hold dear.
  Beyond that, this amendment ensures that the standards of the motor-
voter law remain in order, to ensure that States cannot purge people 
from their rolls if they fall to vote in two consecutive Federal 
elections. It requires provisional ballots to be provided to voters 
missing from precinct registers, and notice be provided as to whether 
their residency was established and their vote counted following 
Election Day. The amendment ensures that national standards are 
maintained for error rates for voting machines, in addition to the 
other standards already established.
  Although the Rules Committee did not make this amendment in order, I 
believe it is vitally important that these provisions be added to any 
bill that becomes law. Nonetheless, I continue to support H.R. 3295, 
which is a very good step in the right direction and support its 
passage today. But I hope that the Senate passes a bill containing all 
of these important provisions, and we are able to adopt it all in 
conference.
  This bipartisan legislation has the endorsement of the National 
Commission on Federal Election Reform and its distinguished chairmen, 
former Presidents Carter and Ford. The National Conference of State 
Legislators and the National Association of Secretaries of State, both 
of which will have to deal with its mandates, have also endorsed it. 
They all recognize that this bill is the best way to help rectify the 
problems of the 2000 election, and ensure that debacle never occurs 
again.
  I urge a ``yes'' vote on H.R. 3295. Thank you Mr. Speaker and I yield 
back the balance of my time.

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