[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 118 (Tuesday, September 20, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10240-S10241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S10240]]
                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 53--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT 
   ANY EFFORT TO IMPOSE PHOTO IDENTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR VOTING 
                           SHOULD BE REJECTED

  Mr. OBAMA (for himself, Mr. Dodd, Mr. Reid, Mr. Corzine, Mrs. 
Clinton, Mr. Harkin, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Akaka, Mr. Dorgan, Mr. Kennedy, 
Mr. Kerry, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Lautenberg, Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Pryor, Mr. 
Dayton, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Wyden, and Mr. Salazar) submitted 
the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Rules and Administration:

                            S. Con. Res. 53

       Whereas the most fundamental right accorded to United 
     States citizens by the Constitution is the right to vote, and 
     the unimpeded exercise of this right is essential to the 
     functioning of our democracy;
       Whereas historically, certain citizens, especially racial 
     minorities, have been prevented from voting because of 
     significant barriers such as literacy tests, poll taxes, and 
     property requirements;
       Whereas the long and difficult struggle to remove these and 
     other barriers to voting resulted in the loss of life but 
     also led to the passage of the 15th, 19th, and 24th 
     Amendments to the Constitution;
       Whereas in the face of persistently low voter turnout 
     relative to other industrialized democracies, exaggerated 
     fears of voter impersonation have led to calls for more 
     stringent voter identification requirements, including the 
     requirement of government-issued photo identification cards 
     as the only approved form of voter identification;
       Whereas there has been no substantiated evidence of any 
     significant incidence of fraud due to voter impersonation, 
     and the more serious attack on ballot integrity has been the 
     discounting of millions of ballots, including an estimated 
     6,000,000 ballots lost in the 2000 Presidential election;
       Whereas there is no evidence that photo identification 
     requirements address the few isolated instances of such 
     fraud;
       Whereas 12 percent of voting-age Americans do not have a 
     driver's license, most of whom are minorities, new United 
     States citizens, the indigent, the elderly, or the disabled;
       Whereas government-issued identification cards can cost as 
     much as $85 and are often unnecessary for the daily needs of, 
     or inaccessible to, many urban, rural, elderly, and indigent 
     voters who do not own cars;
       Whereas the National Commission on Federal Election Reform 
     reported in 2001 that a photo identification requirement 
     would ``impose an additional expense on the exercise of the 
     franchise, a burden that would fall disproportionately on 
     people who are poorer and urban'';
       Whereas an alarming number of States, including most 
     recently the State of Georgia, have passed proposals 
     requiring voters to produce government-issued photo 
     identification at the polls;
       Whereas the State of Georgia no longer allows affidavits 
     affirming one's identity to meet the identification 
     requirement for voting, a change that will likely 
     disproportionately affect minorities, new United States 
     citizens, the indigent, the elderly, and the disabled;
       Whereas 150,000 senior citizens in the State of Georgia do 
     not have a form of government-issued photo identification;
       Whereas residents in the State of Georgia can obtain the 
     newly required voter identification card in only 56 places in 
     all 159 counties in Georgia with no such places currently 
     located in Atlanta, Georgia;
       Whereas the State of Georgia permits the use of various 
     forms of proof of identity to obtain government-issued 
     identification that it does not accept in a similar manner 
     when its citizens attempt to exercise their constitutionally 
     protected right to vote;
       Whereas the State of Georgia will charge United States 
     citizens at least $20 for voters to purchase 1 of the 
     government-issued photo identification cards required under 
     the new State law unless such citizens wish to endure the 
     potential humiliation of swearing to their indigency;
       Whereas poll taxes are prohibited in Federal elections by 
     the 24th Amendment to the Constitution and in State elections 
     by a 1966 Supreme Court case;
       Whereas the Secretary of State of Georgia has stated that 
     photo identification would not have resolved any instances of 
     voter fraud;
       Whereas the Voting Rights Act of 1965 requires that Georgia 
     and other States with histories of discrimination in 
     elections prove that election laws and practices do not 
     hinder minorities' ability to exercise the franchise, 
     including access to the polls, and that such States have such 
     laws and practices approved by the Department of Justice 
     before implementation;
       Whereas the Department of Justice's approval of the Georgia 
     statute in August of 2005 was a troubling example of a recent 
     trend towards weakening voter protections and countenancing 
     voter suppression;
       Whereas Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath have destroyed 
     or rendered unusable the official records of many State and 
     local government agencies in Louisiana, Mississippi, and 
     Alabama, as well as the documents of thousands of residents 
     in those states, which will significantly complicate the 
     ability of those residents to obtain photo identification 
     cards;
       Whereas the residents of the Gulf Coast region, in 
     particular, those residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina, 
     have already suffered immeasurably in recent weeks and should 
     not be further burdened by losing their right to vote because 
     they cannot obtain photo identification cards;
       Whereas the Carter/Baker Election Reform Commission 
     recommended that States implement mandatory State-issued 
     photo identification requirements for voting at the polls, 
     despite the lack of evidence that such identification will 
     address documented instances of voter fraud; and
       Whereas an electoral system with integrity is one that 
     allows all eligible voters the opportunity to cast their 
     votes, and thus election reform must further democratic 
     empowerment, not disenfranchisement: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That it is the sense of Congress that--
       (1) a requirement that United States citizens obtain photo 
     identification cards before being able to vote has not been 
     shown to ensure ballot integrity and places an undue burden 
     on the legitimate voting rights of such citizens;
       (2) the Department of Justice should--
       (A) vigorously enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965; and
       (B) challenge any State law that limits a citizen's ability 
     to vote based on discriminatory photo identification 
     requirements; and
       (3) any effort to impose national photo identification 
     requirements for voting should be rejected.
  Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, today I am submitting a resolution to 
express the Senate's strong disapproval of recent efforts to 
disenfranchise Americans.
  In the weeks since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, our 
country has been awakened to the plight of the most vulnerable 
Americans--the poor, the elderly, the sick, and the disabled. And if we 
have learned anything from this tragedy, it is that the Government has 
too often ignored the needs of these citizens in crafting national 
policy. Whether it is homeland security or education or health care, 
these Americans have consistently been left behind.
  Now, we are in danger of proceeding down another path that disregards 
the needs of our Nation's neediest--the right to vote. This is the most 
fundamental right protected by the Constitution and the right for which 
many Americans have fought and died.
  The last two Presidential elections were tainted by allegations of 
fraud and abuse. The complaints ranged from long polling lines to 
faulty machines to confusing ballots. The rampant complaints have 
shaken people's confidence in our election system. And so it is all of 
our duty to work to restore and protect the integrity of the electoral 
process.
  Unfortunately, in this new millennium, too many electoral reform 
efforts seem intent on limiting access to the ballot as opposed to 
expanding it. In the mid-20th century, the poll tax was the preferred 
means of disenfranchising large minority populations, specifically 
African Americans. Today, the poll tax is taking on a new form--a photo 
identification requirement for voters.
  According to the National Commission on Federal Election Reform, such 
a requirement would ``impose an additional expense on the exercise of 
the franchise, a burden that would fall disproportionately on people 
who are poorer and urban.'' Nevertheless, a number of States, including 
Georgia, have recently passed laws mandating government-issued photo 
identification for voters at the polls.
  In Georgia alone, at least 150,000 senior citizens do not have 
government-issued photo identification, which can cost up to $85. 
Nationwide, at least 12 percent of eligible drivers do not have a 
driver's license. And Georgia has made it difficult for rural and urban 
folks to obtain their voter photo identification. There are currently 
only 56 places in all 159 counties where such identification is 
available, with no places available in Atlanta. For people who already 
lack transportation, which may be why they do not have driver's 
licenses, it is far-fetched to think that these same people could 
easily get to another county to obtain a voter identification card.

[[Page S10241]]

  Earlier today, the Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform 
released its recommendations for improving the electoral process. While 
many of the Commission's recommendations are worthy of consideration, 
its report recommends the implementation of a national voter 
identification requirement, despite acknowledging that there is ``no 
evidence of extensive fraud in U.S. elections or of multiple voting.''
  This past weekend, Afghanistan held its second successful national 
election, and we have seen successes in Iraq's elections as well. If 
these nascent democracies can commit themselves to bringing any and all 
citizens to the polls, surely we can do the same.
  Many of us both here in Washington and around the country have been 
asking questions over the past three weeks about our Nation's 
priorities and our commitment to helping our country's most vulnerable 
citizens. But a major priority should be ensuring that these citizens 
can exercise the most fundamental right in a democracy--the right to 
vote.
  The resolution I am submitting today, along with Senator Dodd and 
joined by Senators Reid, Corzine, Clinton, Harkin, Feingold, Akaka, 
Dorgan, Kennedy, Kerry, Mikulski, Lautenberg and others, expresses the 
Senate's strong disapproval of photo identification requirements for 
voting. The resolution also urges the Department of Justice to 
challenge any State law that limits a citizen's ability to vote based 
on discriminatory photo identification requirements and urges the 
rejection of any national photo identification requirements for voting.
  I am honored that Representative John Lewis, a civil rights icon who 
put his life on the line to fight for the right to vote, will be 
introducing the same resolution in the House later this week.
  I urge my colleagues to support this important resolution.

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