[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 14 (Thursday, February 14, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S836-S838]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        EQUAL PROTECTION OF VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 2001--Continued


                           Amendment No. 2898

  Mr. DAYTON. Mr. President, I offer an amendment, No. 2898, to S. 565, 
the election reform legislation.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Minnesota [Mr. Dayton] proposes an 
     amendment No. 2898.

  Mr. DAYTON. I ask unanimous consent the reading of the amendment be 
dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

 (Purpose: To establish a pilot program for free postage for absentee 
             ballots cast in elections for Federal office)

       On page 68, between lines 17 and 18, insert the following:

     SEC. ____. REDUCED RATE ABSENTEE BALLOT POSTAGE PILOT 
                   PROGRAM.

       (a) Definitions.--In this section:
       (1) Pilot program.--The term ``pilot program'' means the 
     pilot program established under subsection (b).
       (2) Postal service.--The term ``Postal Service'' means the 
     United States Postal Service established under section 201 of 
     title 39, United States Code.
       (b) Establishment.--Notwithstanding any other provision of 
     law, the Federal Election Commission and the Postal Service 
     shall jointly establish a pilot program under which the 
     Postal Service shall waive the amount of postage, applicable 
     with respect to absentee ballots submitted by voters in 
     general elections for Federal office (other than balloting 
     materials mailed under section 3406 of title 39, United 
     States Code). Such pilot program shall not apply with respect 
     to the postage required to send the absentee ballots to 
     voters.
       (c) Pilot States.--The Federal Election Commission and the 
     Postal Service shall jointly select a State or States in 
     which to conduct the pilot program.
       (d) Duration.--The pilot program shall be conducted with 
     respect to absentee ballots submitted in the general election 
     for Federal office held in 2004.
       (e) Public Survey.--In order to assist the Federal Election 
     Commission in making the determinations under subsection 
     (f)(1), the Federal Election Commission and the Postal 
     Service shall jointly conduct a public survey of individuals 
     who participated in the pilot program.
       (f) Study and Report.--
       (1) Study.--The Federal Election Commission shall conduct a 
     study of the pilot program to determine--
       (A) the effectiveness of the pilot program;
       (B) the feasibility of nationally implementing the pilot 
     program; and
       (C) the demographics of voters who participated in the 
     pilot program.
       (2) Report.--
       (A) In general.--Not later than the date that is 90 days 
     after the date on which the general election for Federal 
     office for 2004 is held, the Federal Election Commission 
     shall submit to the Committees on Governmental Affairs and 
     Rules and Administration of the Senate and the Committees on 
     Government Reform and House Administration of the House of 
     Representatives a report on the pilot program together with 
     such recommendations for legislative and administrative 
     action as the Federal Election Commission determines 
     appropriate.
       (B) Recommendations regarding the elderly and disabled.--
     The report submitted under subparagraph (A) shall--
       (i) include recommendations of the Federal Election 
     Commission on whether to expand the pilot program to target 
     elderly individuals and individuals with disabilities; and
       (ii) identify methods of targeting such individuals.
       (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--
       (1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated 
     $1,000,000 for fiscal year 2004 to carry out this section.
       (2) Responsibilities contingent on funding.--The Federal 
     Election Commission and the Postal Service shall not be 
     required to carry out any responsibility under this section 
     unless the amount described in paragraph (1) is appropriated 
     to carry out this section.

  Mr. DAYTON. Mr. President, voting is an essential and indispensable 
right

[[Page S837]]

of citizenship in a democracy. Throughout our Nation's history, a task 
of the Senate and the House has been to remove the barriers to this 
right to vote. We have made great progress beyond gender exclusion, 
poll taxes, literacy tests, and other historical barriers. Yet our 
society is ever changing, and this work is never complete. I applaud 
the authors of this legislation, Chairman Dodd, Ranking Member 
McConnell, and Senator Bond for their excellent leadership and their 
hard work to bring this important bipartisan legislation before us 
today. They have performed a great service to our Senate and to our 
Nation.
  In our national election of the year 2000, only 51 percent of 
America's voting age population participated. Although this 
participation rate was a 2 percent improvement over the previous 
national election, it remains very troubling that only half the 
eligible citizens in our country took the time and made the effort to 
help choose their leaders.
  I am always curious when people say their vote does not count. When 
possible, I like to ask, ``Your vote counts one, the same as everyone 
else's. How much do you think your vote should count?'' A democracy is 
a democracy because every person's vote counts the same as everyone 
else's. How much do you think your vote should count? They miss the 
essential point, that a democracy is a democracy precisely because 
every person's vote counts the same as everyone else's. When a society 
reaches a point where some people's votes start counting more than 
others, either officially or unofficially, a country is usually sliding 
toward rule by a political and economic elite. When only one person's 
vote counts, it is a dictatorship.
  However, there are still real reasons why some people cannot vote. In 
Ely, MN, the City Clerk, Terry Lowell, recognized a problem which 
senior citizens and people with disabilities sometimes encounter. A 
mail-in ballot is frequently the only way a home-bound citizen can 
exercise the right to vote. Yet, something as simple as a postage stamp 
can stand in the way. While the cost of mailing a ballot may seem 
small, it can also become a matter of practicality--when a person has 
difficulty getting out of bed or going to the kitchen, just ``running 
out to get a stamp'' is not a simple task as for most of us.
  There are also many senior citizens in Minnesota, and probably 
elsewhere, who literally watch every penny they must spend. With the 
costs of their prescription medicines ever rising beyond their control, 
they have not enough money left for food and utilities. Every 
additional expenditure, of any amount, is perceived as a burden.
  Plus, the way they look at it and the way I look at it, it is a 
matter of principle. Voting should be free. Voting is free for able-
bodied citizens. It should be free for everyone else, as well.
  My amendment would create a one-time, pilot project in the 2004 
national election, to be designed and implemented by the Postal Service 
with consultation with the Federal Election Commission. Postage-free 
absentee ballots would be provided in one State for that one election. 
This pilot project will measure the effect of postage-free absentee 
ballots on voting participation by elderly, disabled, and other 
citizens. We can then consider whether it would be worthwhile to expand 
their use in future elections.
  This amendment's passage will also demonstrate that a citizen, 
anywhere, can have a good idea and through an elected representative, 
actually see that idea turned into law. For that, I salute Terry 
Lowell, in Ely, MN.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Dayton). The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I commend the Presiding Officer who has just 
offered his pilot project amendment.
  First, I commend him on the creativity in suggesting a pilot program. 
I know his concern would be--the question is obvious--the cost of this 
and how well it will work. I think by running a pilot program we can 
answer a lot of those questions.
  I think the point he made in his remarks deserves repeating. We try 
to make, as Senator Bond said so often--I have repeated it, Senator 
McConnell said the same thing on many occasions--voting easy, as user 
friendly as we possibly can in this country. Every eligible person who 
has the right to vote can walk into that polling place, whether it be 
in rural or urban America or poor or suburban communities, walk into 
that polling place on election day and know he or she is being 
received, encouraged and offered the means by which they can cast their 
ballot to choose the President of the United States, down to a local 
commissioner or board person in their own hometown.
  That wonderful right we have that is so unavailable to billions of 
people on the face of this Earth still is something we need to make as 
easy as possible, as user friendly as possible. Of course, there are 
millions of Americans who are homebound, who are overseas, who are in 
the military. To make this as free and accessible to them as possible 
is something all of us ought to embrace. Therefore, the idea of making 
absentee ballots, by which millions of Americans cast their votes, as 
free as possible, is something I think is deserving of support, 
particularly as a pilot program.
  Had the Senator offered this to require it in perpetuity, across the 
country, I would have some reservations about what the implications of 
that could be. But I think the framing it in a pilot program idea for 
the 2004 election is an idea that is worthy of support.
  I have submitted the amendment to my friend from Kentucky and his 
staff to take a look at it. They are going to be reviewing it. We don't 
have an answer yet. My hope is we can accept this and come to some 
agreement. I congratulate my friend from Minnesota for offering this 
idea to our colleagues.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Akaka). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I am going to proceed to offer three 
individual amendments, and I will be asking to lay them aside. But this 
way they can be debated tomorrow or Monday when we come back on the 
25th. They may be accepted or end up being part of a managers' 
amendment but disposed of somehow in order to have them before the 
Senate.


                           Amendment No. 2912

  The first amendment is an amendment offered by Senator Harkin, No. 
2912. I offer that amendment on behalf of Senator Harkin.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Connecticut [Mr. Dodd], for Mr. Harkin, 
     proposes an amendment numbered 2912.

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

    (Purpose: To provide funds for protection and advocacy systems)

       On page 28 of the amendment, after line 23, add the 
     following:
       (c) Protection and Advocacy Systems.--
       (1) In general.--In addition to any other payments made 
     under this section, the Attorney General shall pay the 
     protection and advocacy system (as defined in section 102 of 
     the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights 
     Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15002)) of each State to ensure full 
     participation in the electoral process for individuals with 
     disabilities, including registering to vote, casting a vote 
     and accessing polling places. In providing such services, 
     protection and advocacy systems shall have the same general 
     authorities as they are afforded under part C of the 
     Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act 
     of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15041 et seq.).
       (2) Minimum grant amount.--The minimum amount of each grant 
     to a protection and advocacy system shall be determined and 
     allocated as set forth in subsections (c)(3), (c)(4), (c)(5), 
     (e), and (g) of section 509 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 
     (29 U.S.C.

[[Page S838]]

     794e), except that the amount of the grants to systems 
     referred to in subsections (c)(3)(B) and (c)(4)(B) of that 
     section shall be not less than $70,000 and $35,000, 
     respectively.
       On page 30, strike lines 23 through 25, and insert the 
     following:
       (b) Protection and Advocacy Systems.--In addition to any 
     other amounts authorized to be appropriated under this 
     section, there are authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000 
     for each of the fiscal years 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, and 
     for each subsequent fiscal year such sums as may be 
     necessary, for the purpose of making payments under section 
     206(c).
       (c) Availability.--Any amounts appropriated pursuant to the 
     authority of this section shall remain available until 
     expended.

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Harkin 
amendment be temporarily laid aside.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                           Amendment No. 2913

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I send an amendment to the desk on behalf of 
Senator Harkin and Senator McCain and ask for its consideration.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Connecticut [Mr. Dodd] for Mr. Harkin, for 
     himself and Mr. McCain, proposes an amendment numbered 2913.

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the 
amendment be dispensed with.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment is as follows:

  (Purpose: To express the sense of the Congress that curbside voting 
      should be only an alternative of last resort when providing 
                  accommodations for disabled voters)

       At the end add the following:

     SEC. ____. VOTERS WITH DISABILITIES.

       (a) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:
       (1) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 
     12101 et seq.) requires that people with disabilities have 
     the same kind of access to public places as the general 
     public.
       (2) The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and 
     Handicapped Act (42 U.S.C. 1973ee et seq.) requires that all 
     polling places for Federal elections be accessible to the 
     elderly and the handicapped.
       (3) The General Accounting Office in 2001 issued a report 
     based on their election day random survey of 496 polling 
     places during the 2000 election across the country and found 
     that 84 percent of those polling places had one or more 
     potential impediments that prevented individuals with 
     disabilities, especially those who use wheelchairs, from 
     independently and privately voting at the polling place in 
     the same manner as everyone else.
       (4) The Department of Justice has interpreted accessible 
     voting to allow curbside voting or absentee voting in lieu of 
     making polling places physically accessible.
       (5) Curbside voting does not allow the voter the right to 
     vote in privacy.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
     the right to vote in a private and independent manner is a 
     right that should be afforded to all eligible citizens, 
     including citizens with disabilities, and that curbside 
     voting should only be an alternative of the last resort in 
     providing equal voting access to all eligible American 
     citizens.

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the amendment 
be temporarily laid aside.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                           Amendment No. 2914

  Mr. DODD. Lastly, Mr. President, I offer an amendment on behalf of 
the Senator from New York, Mr. Schumer.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

       The Senator from Connecticut [Mr. Dodd], for Mr. Schumer, 
     proposes an amendment numbered 2914.

  The amendment is as follows:

  (Purpose: To permit the use of a signature or personal mark for the 
 purpose of verifying the identity of voters who register by mail, and 
                          for other purposes)

       Beginning on page 18, line 20, strike through page 19, line 
     24, and insert the following:
       (2) Requirements.--
       (A) In general.--An individual meets the requirements of 
     this paragraph if the individual--
       (i) in the case of an individual who votes in person--

       (I) presents to the appropriate State or local election 
     official a current and valid photo identification;
       (II) presents to the appropriate State or local election 
     official a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, 
     Government check, paycheck, or other Government document that 
     shows the name and address of the voter;
       (III) provides written affirmation on a form provided by 
     the appropriate State or local election official of the 
     individual's identity; or
       (IV) provides a signature or personal mark that matches the 
     signature or personal mark of the individual on record with a 
     State or local election official; or

       (ii) in the case of an individual who votes by mail, 
     submits with the ballot--

       (I) a copy of a current and valid photo identification;
       (II) a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, 
     Government check, paycheck, or other Government document that 
     shows the name and address of the voter; or
       (III) provides a signature or personal mark that matches 
     the signature or personal mark of the individual on record 
     with a State or local election official.

       (B) Provisional voting.--An individual who desires to vote 
     in person, but who does not meet the requirements of 
     subparagraph (A)(i), may cast a provisional ballot under 
     section 102(a).
       On page 68, strike lines 19 and 20, and insert the 
     following:
       (a) In General.--Nothing in this Act may be construed to 
     authorize

  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Schumer 
amendment be temporarily laid aside.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I will not go into describing these 
amendments. We will leave that for the Members themselves when they 
find the time, probably either tomorrow or Monday on the 25th, to come 
and explain them.
  In the meantime, again, I am going to suggest to Members that with 
the finite list of amendments we now have from both the minority and 
majority sides, we are going to make an effort to accommodate as many 
of these amendments as we can, to try to see if we can accept them or 
suggest maybe modifications that would make the amendments acceptable; 
or if that is not possible, then certainly provide the time on Monday, 
the 25th, or tomorrow, for these amendments to be debated, with 
Tuesday, the 26th, being the day on which amendments would be voted 
upon, those that had not been resolved or accepted or made part of a 
managers' amendment.
  That is the idea. That is the goal, so to speak, we are trying to 
achieve with all of this.
  So with that, Mr. President, I do not know if I have any additional 
amendments at this point to submit. That being the case, I note the 
presence of my friend and colleague from Nevada. I see he has some big, 
white cardboard pieces in his hands, which usually indicate a chart and 
a speech. So I think we are going to hear some words.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada is recognized.
  Mr. REID. First of all, I say to my friend from Connecticut, what a 
great job you have done on the bill today. We have made tremendous 
progress. We have a list of amendments. I will be happy to work with 
the Senator tomorrow, and the days after that, and, hopefully, we can 
pass this bill Tuesday. That would be a great mark for the American 
people.

                          ____________________