[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 120 (Wednesday, September 29, 2004)]
[House]
[Pages H7824-H7825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           UPCOMING ELECTIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Watson) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WATSON. Madam Speaker, last week, a number of members of the 
Congressional Black Caucus, myself included, addressed the issue of 
upcoming elections, with particular attention going to voter 
intimidation, oppression, and suppression. I congratulate the 
Congressional Black Caucus, and particularly the leadership of our 
chair, the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings), for making Americans 
aware of this very serious issue.
  The sad truth is that in every election since reconstruction, in 
every election since the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965, voters, and 
particularly African Americans and other minorities, have faced 
calculated and determined efforts at intimidation and suppression, both 
above and below the Mason-Dixon line, indeed throughout the Nation.
  It appears that the upcoming national elections will not break that 
pattern. In an article on the op-ed page of Monday's Washington Post, 
former President Jimmy Carter states the following: ``The disturbing 
fact is that a repetition of the problems of 2000 now seems likely, 
even as many other nations are conducting elections that are 
internationally certified to be transparent, honest, and fair.''
  President Carter cites two significant requirements for free and fair 
elections. First, standards that the State of Florida still fails to 
meet. The first is a nonpartisan electoral commission or a trusted and 
nonpartisan official who will be responsible for organizing and 
conducting the electoral process. And the second requirement is 
uniformity in voting procedures so that all citizens, regardless of 
their social or financial status, have equal assurance that their votes 
are cast in this same way and will be tabulated with equal accuracy.
  Madam Speaker, as many of my colleagues know, President Carter is not 
speaking off the cuff when it comes to election monitoring. The world 
renowned Carter Center has monitored more than 50 elections around the 
world, many under difficult and dangerous circumstances. When it comes 
to certifying that elections are free and fair, the Carter Center is 
the gold standard. People listen and they take note.
  They listen and take note, it appears, everywhere in the world but 
here in the United States.
  President Carter is dead-on target in stating that ``It is 
unconscionable to perpetuate fraudulent or biased electoral practices 
in any nation. It is especially objectionable among our Americans, who 
have prided ourselves on setting a global example for pure democracy.''
  That is why I introduced House Resolution 793, a sense of Congress 
resolution, condemning all efforts to suppress and intimidate voters in 
the United States and reaffirming that the right to vote is a 
fundamental right of all eligible United States citizens.

                              {time}  2000

  The resolution also urges States to replace decade-old election 
machinery with less error-prone equipment before the November 2004 
national elections; calls upon all States to institute a moratorium on 
the erection of roadblocks or identity checkpoints designed to racially 
profile voters on Election Day, and calls upon the Attorney General to 
vigorously monitor all credible allegations of voter intimidation and 
suppression and to expeditiously prosecute all offenders to the full 
extent of the law.
  Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 793 is a simple resolution that 
reaffirms the most basic right of every American, the right to vote and 
have their vote counted. This is not a partisan issue. It is not a 
Democrat or Republican issue, and I would note, however, that not one 
single Member on the other side of the aisle has cosponsored this 
resolution.
  Can anyone take comfort in conducting elections under flawed 
circumstances that depart from the principles of fair and equal 
treatment? Can anyone condone an election that perpetuates fraudulent 
or biased electoral practices? I certainly hope that our Nation's noble 
experiment in democracy has not.
  Madam Speaker, in closing, I want to briefly address another issue of 
voter inequity. This past weekend I held a voter awareness workshop in 
my congressional district for ex-offenders. It is a model for the rest 
of the Nation, and I would hope that we would look to letting ex-
offenders exercise their right to vote after they have served their 
time and paid their debt to society.
  Last week, a number of members of the Congressional Black Caucus, 
myself included, addressed the issue of the upcoming elections, with 
particular attention given to voter intimidation, oppression, and 
suppression. I congratulate the Congressional Black Caucus, and 
particularly the leadership of our Chair, Congressman Elijah Cummings, 
for making Americans aware of this very serious issue.
  The sad truth is that in every election since Reconstruction, in 
every election since the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965, voters--and 
particularly African-Americans and other minorities--have faced 
calculated and determined efforts at intimidation and suppression, both 
above and below the Mason-Dixon Line, indeed throughout the Nation.
  It appears that the upcoming national elections will not break that 
pattern. In an article on the op-ed page of Monday's Washington Post, 
former President Jimmy Carter states the following, and I quote: ``The 
disturbing fact is that a repetition of the problems of 2000 now seems 
likely, even as many other nations are conducting elections that are 
internationally certified to be transparent, honest and fair.''
  President Carter cites two significant requirements for free and fair 
elections--standards that the State of Florida still fails to meet: The 
first is ``a nonpartisan electoral commission or a trusted and 
nonpartisan official who will be responsible for organizing and 
conducting the electoral process''; and, the second requirement is 
``uniformity in voting procedures, so that all citizens, regardless of 
their social or financial status, have equal assurance that their votes 
are cast in the same way and will be tabulated with equal accuracy.''
  Mr. Speaker, as many of you know, President Carter is not speaking 
off-the-cuff when it

[[Page H7825]]

comes to election monitoring. The world-renowned Carter Center has 
monitored more than 50 elections around the world, many under difficult 
and dangerous circumstances. When it comes to certifying that elections 
are free and fair, the Carter Center is the gold standard; people 
listen and take note.
  They listen and take note, it appears, everywhere in the world but 
the United States.
  President Carter is dead-on target in stating that ``It 
is unconscionable to perpetuate fraudulent or biased electoral 
practices in any nation. It is especially objectionable among us 
Americans, who have prided ourselves on setting a global example for 
pure democracy.''

  That is why I recently introduced House Resolution 793--a sense of 
Congress resolution condemning all efforts to suppress and intimidate 
voters in the United States and reaffirming that the right to vote is a 
fundamental right of all eligible United States citizens.
  The resolution also urges States to replace decade-old election 
machinery with less error-prone equipment before the November 2004 
national elections; calls upon all States to institute a moratorium on 
the erection of roadblocks or identity checkpoints designed to racially 
profile voters on election day; and calls upon the Attorney General to 
vigorously monitor all credible allegations of voter intimidation and 
suppression and to expeditiously prosecute all offenders to the full 
extent of the law.
  Mr. Speaker, House Resolution 793 is a simple resolution that 
reaffirms the most basic right of every American--the right to vote and 
have their vote counted. This is not a partisan issue. It is not a 
Democrat or Republican issue. I would note, however, that not one 
single member on the other side of the aisle has cosponsored the 
resolution.
  Can anyone take comfort in conducting elections under flawed 
circumstances that depart from the principles of fair and equal 
treatment? Can anyone condone an election that perpetuates fraudulent 
or biased electoral practices? I certainly hope that our Nation's noble 
experiment in democracy has not.
  Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to briefly address another issue of 
voter inequity. This past weekend I held a voter awareness workshop in 
my congressional district for ex-offenders. In many States around the 
nation, ex-offenders' right to vote is either restricted or banned. 
This week the Sentencing Project released a study showing that African 
American men in Atlanta were 11 times more likely than non-African 
American to be disenfranchised. Nationwide, an estimated 5 million 
Americans are affected by felony voting restrictions. African-American 
males account for about 8 percent of the U.S. population and 40 percent 
of the prison population.
  The high numbers of disenfranchised African American males casts a 
pall on voting. Why should any State have the authority to restrict the 
right of persons to vote who have paid their debt to society? This is 
fundamentally unfair and unjust.
  Mr. Speaker, the credibility of our Nation is under attack from 
around the world. We cannot afford to witness another election debacle 
like the one we experienced in 2000. It is time for the American public 
and this body to sit up and take note of a potentially serious crisis 
facing the United States.

                          ____________________