[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 11]
[House]
[Pages 15146-15147]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     SUPPORT FOR A DAY OF DEMOCRACY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Pence). Under the Speaker's announced 
policy of January 3, 2001, the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee) 
is recognized during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, this morning the Ford-Carter 
Commission on Election Reform will release its report. One of the 
striking aspects of its report, and I say striking because it is 
sometimes rare for commissions to study an issue and offer to give the 
American people another day off; but I believe this is an important 
step in acknowledging the very important and pivotal role that the 
American people play in fostering democracy in this Nation. That is the 
election of the President of the United States, election of their 
Federal officials that come about in one group every 4 years. The 
President, in many instances, Senators and, of course, Members of the 
House of Representatives are running for reelection.
  The Ford-Carter Commission was to assess the plight of elections in 
this Nation. Certainly a laboratory was the election of November 2000. 
Not only was Florida a prime example where things can go wrong, but as 
I traveled around the country listening to voters in many many 
jurisdictions, this is a problem that is systemic to our Nation and one 
that we must fix in order to enhance democracy.
  We must ensure that every voter has a right to vote. We must ensure 
that they are knowledgeable about where to vote. We have to ensure that 
voters are not purged from the list that is kept by their local 
governmental officials. We must ensure that voters are educated on how 
to vote and that they are able to utilize high technology equipment.
  There are many legislative initiatives that are fostering or looking 
to improve the election system. I support the Dodd-Conyers legislation 
and I have offered legislation myself to determine the best technology 
that this Nation should use.
  Many jurisdictions who have the resources have already begun to 
improve their election system. We must keep in mind, however, that the 
rush to judgment to improve our election system should not replace one 
bad system with another. So it is imperative that we create standards 
and I hope the Ford-Carter commission includes that.
  I have a bill, H.R. 934, that has spoken to the issue of a national 
holiday.
  Why a national holiday? One more day for us to be in the shopping 
malls? I think not. A day that everyone can focus on their most 
important responsibility, and that is the maintenance of democracy in 
this Nation, the upkeep of the Constitution. This will allow college 
students and high school students and working people from all walks of 
life to participate in a day of democracy. That is what we should call 
it.
  My bill, H.R. 934, says it is a sense of Congress that private 
employers in the United States should give their employees a day off on 
the Tuesday next, after the first Monday in November in 2004 and each 
fourth year thereafter to enable the employees to cast votes in the 
presidential and other elections held on that day.
  But, more importantly, we will not hear of the young mother or the 
young father or the hard-working individual who says, I just did not 
get the time to vote. I tried to get back to my polling place, but it 
was closed. Traffic kept me from voting. Transportation kept me from 
voting. My employer would not let me have time off to vote.
  College students who might want to be poll workers at the polls, a 
most important responsibility on that day, knowing the laws, assisting 
people in exercising their democratic right, having those kinds of poll 
workers assist us along with other professionals as well as the 
wonderful volunteers we have had to date.
  Mr. Speaker, I think it is high time for us to be able to give the 
kind of credible evidence and the kind of respect for the election 
system that is long overdue in this Nation. There are many countries 
around the world that fight for the meager chance to cast their vote. 
There are many that do not have that chance. There are others who look 
to us for our leadership and many countries have had us as election 
monitors.
  We can do no less for our citizens than to ensure that every vote 
counts, to ensure that we have a working system that allows every vote 
to count, to respect the military votes, to respect those who have done 
their time in prisons and now want to be the kind of citizens that will 
have their rights restored, to respect those who have registered and 
yet now are purged.
  There are many things we can do to fix the election system. But I 
believe one that we can all rally around is the Ford-Carter commission. 
As I said, this national holiday will not be a shopping day. It will be 
a day of freedom, a day that we will recognize that every single 
American goes to the polls acknowledging and respecting our democracy.
  When our men and women offer themselves for the ultimate sacrifice in 
the United States military, they do so so that freedom will reign. 
Support H.R. 934 as we move to the process of enhancing democracy in 
this Nation.

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