[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 19 (Friday, February 3, 2017)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E137-E138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  PRESIDENT TRUMP MUST INVESTIGATE VOTER SUPPRESSION INSTEAD OF VOTER 
                                 FRAUD

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. TERRI A. SEWELL

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, February 3, 2017

  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, today, I rise in response to the 
recent and unfounded claims of voter fraud made by President Trump. 
Throughout our nation's history, it has been tradition for a newly 
inaugurated president to try and establish common ground across party 
lines and heal divisions to ensure that our society transitions between 
administrations with a positive outlook. However, many of the 
President's actions have been contrary to this tradition, and his 
obsession with voter fraud is just a senseless distraction from the 
real issue of voter suppression in this nation.
   The reality is that there is quantifiable evidence that voter fraud 
is so rare it never influences the outcome of any major U.S. election. 
Instead of investigating these baseless claims of voter fraud, our 
taxpayer dollars would be better spent looking into how millions of 
Americans were denied their constitutionally protected right to vote 
because of modern-day voter suppression tactics, like voter ID laws, 
across the country.
   In my home state of Alabama, nearly 250,000 Alabamians who don't 
have a valid voter ID, could not vote in the 2016 election. This is 
unconscionable and should not be allowed to continue. The solution to 
the voting issue is a simple one. We can strengthen our democracy by 
making it easier, not harder, to vote. We should work in a bi-partisan 
way, as has been our history, to restore the full protections of Voting 
Rights Act of 1965. The narrative of voter fraud is a myth. However, 
voter suppression is a real and overly prevalent national issue that 
must finally be addressed once and for all.

[[Page E138]]

  

                          ____________________