[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 42 (Tuesday, March 10, 2009)]
[House]
[Page H3113]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1230
                               CARD CHECK

  (Mr. CASSIDY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. CASSIDY. Mr. Speaker, secret ballots say a lot about the 
societies that defend and preserve them. They say that society trusts 
the people, and given the facts and the arguments, the people 
themselves are trusted to make the right decisions. You can be 
persuaded. You can be begged. But in the privacy of the voting booth, 
your vote is your own.
  When government attempts to abolish the private ballot, it says that 
people are not trusted. It says to every citizen, you, do not know what 
is good for you.
  For over 60 years, American workers have decided whether to unionize 
in secret ballot elections, for the very same reasons that in political 
elections we cast our votes in private. Card check assaults that right. 
It imposes coercion over conscience, force over freedom.
  Since 1776 Americans have expected Congress to defend their 
democratic rights, not abolish them. Card check denies fundamental 
democratic rights to over 100 million Americans. Congress should defend 
this right.

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