[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5026]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                PROTECTING THE RIGHT TO A SECRET BALLOT

  (Mr. KIRK asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. KIRK. Madam Speaker, today, the House will take up legislation 
that will remove the right of Americans to a secret ballot in their 
union elections. When asked, only 6 percent of Americans supported 
eliminating a secret ballot, while 89 percent supported keeping their 
rights.
  Eighty-four percent of Americans said that they did not want their 
choices to be made public. And when asked about this legislation, only 
14 percent of Americans said they supported it; 79 percent opposed.
  Madam Speaker, we cannot advance the interests of Americans by taking 
away their right to a secret ballot. Since 2000, Congress has provided 
hundreds of millions of dollars to improve voting in America. We even 
support secret ballot elections in places like Poland and Afghanistan, 
where secret ballots are banned.
  Madam Speaker, we know that the union movement has lost over 3,000 
dues-paying members alone. But just because only 12 percent of 
Americans now choose to pay into a union is no reason to attack our 
rights as Americans to a secret ballot.

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