[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 244]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            ELECTION REFORM

  (Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas asked and was given permission to address 
the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Madam Speaker, I said earlier, as I see my 
good friend and colleague on the floor, that this was a sacred and 
historic day, and I am gratified of the leadership of the gentlewoman 
from Ohio (Mrs. Jones) and the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Conyers), 
my ranking member, who joined together with many of us in Washington 
and Ohio to acknowledge the sanctity and sacredness of the right to 
vote and the Constitution.
  We did not stand in bitterness or opposition to a person. We did not 
stand to undermine the presidency of the United States of America. But 
what we did do was to stand to uphold the Constitution and our oath of 
office taken on January 4, 2005, and that was to uphold the laws of 
this Nation. I am grateful for this debate and the process of democracy 
so that the world can see in Afghanistan, Iraq, in Africa, South 
America, in Asia, and around the world that America stands for equality 
and justice. We have work to do, Madam Speaker. There is no paper trail 
in our process. There is an unequal system of justice of voting in the 
States. This Congress must work in a bipartisan way to reform the 
election system of America, and I ask my colleagues to do so.

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