[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 148 (Wednesday, September 17, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1824]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       VETERAN VOTING SUPPORT ACT

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                           HON. RUSH D. HOLT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 17, 2008

  Mr. HOLT. Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my support for the 
Veteran Voting Support Act, and to commend the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania (Mr. Brady) for his leadership in offering it. I was 
honored to join him as an original sponsor of it, and I urge all of my 
colleagues to support it.
  In a few short weeks, we will participate in two celebrations of our 
democracy: Election Day, the day upon which we will exercise our most 
fundamental right--the right by which we secure all others--the right 
to vote. And one week later, we will celebrate Veterans Day, the day 
upon which we honor those who always risk and who all too often give 
their very lives to preserve and protect our ability to engage in that 
fundamental right. Arguably, we should celebrate Veterans Day first, 
and Election Day thereafter, because without the sacrifice of the 
former we could not continue to be endowed with the latter.
  That is why I offer my heartfelt support for the Veteran Voting 
Support Act, which responds to a flawed policy of the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs that would have prohibited voter registration at VA 
facilities. The measure permits states to designate facilities of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs as voter registration agencies, requires 
the VA to provide assistance with absentee ballots, and requires that 
nonpartisan organizations and election officials be given opportunities 
to assist veterans with registration and to provide voting information. 
Above all others, our service men and women should be provided with 
every convenience and resource to facilitate their ability to vote. 
This balanced measure does that, while protecting their privacy and 
preserving the high standard of their care. Our veterans' have fought 
for our right to vote, and we must now fight for theirs. I urge my 
colleagues to honor their sacrifice by supporting this measure.

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