[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 42 (Thursday, March 13, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S1658]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Reid, and Mr. 
        Durbin):
  S. 2145. 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 Veterans' Affairs.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise to reintroduce the Veteran 
Voting Support Act, which is cosponsored by Senators Leahy, Durbin, and 
Reid.
  Almost 7 years ago, during the previous administration, I learned 
that a Department of Veterans Affairs facility in California had barred 
voter registration groups from accessing veterans in the facility. 
Similar reports emerged in other parts of the country.
  This was unacceptable. Therefore, then-Senator Kerry and I worked 
with the VA to establish a fair, nonpartisan policy to facilitate voter 
registration and voting for veterans who receive services at VA 
facilities.
  We held a hearing in the Rules Committee on a previous version of 
this bill on September 15, 2008, when I was Chairman of that committee.
  One week before that hearing, the VA issued a directive that created 
a new and substantially improved policy to permit state and local 
election officials, as well as nonpartisan groups, to access VA 
facilities.
  Yet many expressed concerns that it did not go far enough. For 
example, the Brennan Center for Justice, American Association for 
People with Disabilities, Common Cause, Demos, and the League of Women 
Voters sent me a letter stating that the directive was ``an important 
step in the right direction'' but stressed ``that the VA's recent 
directive will not be sufficient to protect the voting rights of the 
men and women served by the VA.''
  Paul Sullivan, then Executive Director of Veterans for Common Sense, 
said: ``There is a veteran voting rights crisis. As many as 100,000 of 
our veterans living in VA facilities may not be able to vote in our 
November 4 election.''
  Mr. Sullivan also explained a key problem facing veterans who live at 
a VA facility: ``When a veteran moves into a VA facility, the veteran's 
old registration becomes invalid. The veteran must re-register before 
he or she can vote again.''
  In short, while many believed the VA's directive was not perfect, 
they also acknowledged it was an improvement.
  I am sad to report that the 2008 voting assistance directive expired 
at the end of September 2013. That means no voting assistance directive 
is in place at the VA, with the mid-term elections only a few months 
away.
  This is unacceptable. There is no justification for it. Veterans' 
voting rights, like the voting rights of others, do not have an 
expiration date.
  There is no question about the continuing need for VA action in this 
area.
  While the VA's directive was in place, from 2008 to 2012, veteran 
voter registration ticked up only slightly, from 77 to 78 percent, 
according to the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey.
  But during the same period, actual voting by veterans dropped as a 
percentage of the veteran population--from 70.9 percent to 70.3 
percent.
  In raw numbers, there remain over 4.6 million veterans who either are 
unregistered or for whom the Census Bureau's data reports no response.
  In the 2012 election, there were over 6.2 million veterans who either 
did not vote or for whom the Census data reports no response.
  Thus, there is much more to do to help our veterans register and cast 
their ballots.
  The VA is the agency best suited to do the job because it comes into 
contact with several million veterans each year.
  In fact, in 2013, according to the VA's latest statistics, there were 
over 6.41 million unique patients in the VA health care system, up from 
5.65 million in 2008, a 15 percent increase.
  Today, I am reintroducing the Veteran Voting Support Act, which, 
unlike a VA directive, cannot be rescinded by the VA and would not 
expire.
  This bill would take important steps to improve veterans' ability to 
register and vote.
  First, the bill would require the VA to provide a veteran seeking to 
enroll in the VA health care system with a mail-in voter registration 
form. Such a form would also have to be provided to currently enrolled 
veterans upon a change of address or enrollment status.
  The VA would be required to send such forms to the appropriate state 
election official within 10 days, or within five days if the form is 
received within five days before a registration deadline.
  Second, the VA would be required to provide assistance to veterans 
seeking to register to vote using the mail-in form. Such assistance 
would be non-partisan.
  Third, the bill would require the director of a VA community living 
center, domiciliary, or medical center to provide assistance to 
veterans with respect to voting by absentee ballot, consistent with 
state and local laws. This section is limited to residents of a 
community living center or domiciliary and inpatients of a medical 
center.
  Fourth, the bill would ensure that the VA provides access for 
nonpartisan organizations to provide voter registration and assistance 
at VA facilities.
  This is subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions, 
including limiting activities to regular business hours and requiring 
advance notice to the facility.
  Fifth, the bill would prevent the VA from prohibiting access to VA 
facilities by election administration officials at the state and local 
levels, as long as the officials provide only nonpartisan information 
about voting, such as voter registration, voting systems, absentee 
balloting, and polling locations. This is also subject to reasonable, 
time, place, and manner restrictions.
  Finally, the bill would require the VA to report annually on the 
number of veterans helped by this bill.
  We owe our veterans a great debt. That debt includes a promise we 
will not deny them the right to vote and will commit to involving them 
in the process of choosing leaders who may send Americans into harm's 
way. This bill would help veterans register to vote, and it would help 
veterans living in VA facilities cast their ballots.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the Veteran Voting 
Support Act.
                                 ______