[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 22, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S7076]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Kerry, Mr. Reid, Mr. Obama, 
        Mr. Schumer, Mr. Leahy, Mrs. Clinton, Mrs. Murray, and Mr. 
        Wyden):
  S. 3308. A bill to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 
permit facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs to be 
designated as voter registration agencies, and for other purposes; to 
the Committee on Rules and Administration.
  Mr. President, I am pleased to be an original cosponsor of the 
Veteran Voting Support Act, which Senator Feinstein and Senator Kerry 
have introduced today.
  This bill will address an issue of great concern to me and to so many 
Americans: the rights of Americans who fight to defend our values and 
freedoms abroad must have the full enjoyment of those rights here at 
home. This legislation responds to an announcement by the Bush 
administration's Department of Veterans Affairs that it will ban non-
partisan organizations and state election officials from conducting 
voter registration drives at its facilities.
  It is a sad commentary that in our great Nation, so many of our young 
veterans who have been treated shamefully by their government when it 
sent them into harm's way under false pretenses are again mistreated 
after they return home. Our troops were sent to fight an unnecessary 
war in Iraq--without sufficient armor, without adequate reinforcements, 
without a plan to win the peace, and without adequate medical care and 
other services to help them adapt to life upon their return.
  Given this President's obsession with democracy taking root in the 
Middle East, I would think that at a minimum he would be equally 
concerned with guaranteeing the right to vote to veterans returning 
home after risking life and limb spreading that right to others. Yet, 
his administration has done just the opposite. Under this President's 
watch, the Department of Veteran Affairs has erected barriers to voter 
registration that impede veterans being treated in VA facilities from 
participating in the political process.
  First, this administration's Department of Veteran Affairs has shown 
little interest in, or commitment to, assisting veterans in exercising 
the fundamental right to vote. Since 2004, the Department has often 
sided in Federal court against allowing third-party organizations to 
conduct voter registration drives at VA hospitals. Until this past 
April, the Department's national policy was silent on whether it could 
assist disabled veterans access and complete voter registration forms. 
Indeed, court findings appear to indicate that in some instances, the 
Department may have even prohibited its own staff from providing such 
assistance.
  Second, although the Department has made recent strides to allow 
veterans more access to voter registration forms, it has not gone far 
enough. Three months ago, the Department issued a written directive' 
requiring all VA facilities to develop voter registration plans that 
would assist patients in registering to vote. I applaud this action as 
a positive first step. However, I am concerned that the new directive 
stops short of mandating that VA facilities affirmatively offer 
disabled veterans a chance to register to vote. To paraphrase Paul 
Sullivan, the Executive Director of Veterans for Commonsense, the new 
directive only changed the Department from being in active opposition 
to veterans' voter registration to passively supporting it.
  Third, and perhaps most troubling, the new directive prohibits third-
party organizations and state election officials from conducting 
nonpartisan voter registration drives among veterans at VA facilities. 
I am concerned that this ban will not only undermine the Department's 
goal of assisting disabled veterans in registering and voting, but will 
also make it more difficult for these Americans to participate in the 
political process.
  The Veterans Voting Support Act would address these concerns. This 
important measure would designate VA facilities as voter registration 
agencies, thereby ensuring that the Department actively offers veterans 
the assistance they need to vote and register to vote. This provision 
would also protect disabled veterans from being disenfranchised by a 
procedural technicality. In addition, the bill provides our veterans 
with information relating to the opportunity to request an absentee 
ballot, ensure the ballots are available upon request, as well as 
provide assistance in completing them.
  It would also require a meaningful opportunity for nonpartisan groups 
and election officials to provide voter registration information and 
assistance at VA hospitals. The Department was founded on the principle 
that its first duty to veterans was to meet their medical, social, and 
civic needs, including the full participation of veterans in our 
society. As a corollary, this provision will strengthen that mandate 
and send an important message to our veterans: our country will make 
every effort to ensure that those who sacrificed so much to expand 
democracy around the globe are involved in our democracy at home.
  Finally, to ensure that the Department does not backslide from its 
critical function of expanding the civic involvement of disabled 
veterans, the bill also provides reporting requirements to ensure that 
the Department complies with this important goal.
  The Nation's disabled veterans have given extraordinary service to 
our country. These courageous men and women deserve our help to ensure 
that they receive the necessary assistance to guarantee their full 
participation in our democracy. I look forward to Senate passage of the 
Veterans Voting Support Act, and I hope the House and the President 
will act quickly on this legislation to ensure the implementation of 
this important measure in time for the upcoming national election.

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