[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 176 (Thursday, November 17, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H7731]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   OUR RIGHT TO VOTE IS UNDER ATTACK

  (Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, our right to vote is under 
attack. Photo ID laws on the books in nearly a dozen States, including 
in my home State of Georgia and pending in 35, are most troubling.
  Proponents say State-issued photo ID laws prevent voter fraud, but 
in-person voting fraud has not been a significant problem throughout 
the years. The problem was that too many people went to vote for 
President Obama. An estimated 21 million people do not have current 
government-issued photo IDs. The numbers are even higher for blacks and 
Hispanics and other minorities. The Texas legislature passed one of the 
worst laws whereby a concealed-weapon permit qualifies as a voter ID 
while a student ID does not. The Justice Department should vigorously 
challenge these voter ID laws.
  Nothing is more fundamental, ladies and gentlemen, than our right to 
vote. We must reject any attempts to curb citizens in the exercise of 
their right.

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