[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2001, Book II)]
[July 31, 2001]
[Pages 929-930]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



[[Page 929]]


Remarks on Receiving the Report of the National Commission on Federal 
Election Reform
July 31, 2001

    Thank you all. Please be seated. After the last election, two former 
Presidents and a panel of distinguished Americans--from both political 
parties, I might add--gathered to consider ways to improve America's 
election system. And they have produced an impressive report. Today I 
accept their report and recommend the key principles drawn from the 
report as guidelines for meaningful reform.
    I want to welcome President Jimmy Carter 
back to the Rose Garden and to the Oval Office. President Gerald 
Ford could not be with us today, but he is 
well represented by House Minority Leader Bob Michel. Thank you for being here, Mr. Leader. I want to thank Phil 
Zelikow for being the Executive Director 
of the Commission. I want to thank all the Commission members who are 
here, and I appreciate the Attorney General 
for being here, as well. Thanks for coming, John.
    Our American democracy is really an inspiration to the world. Yet, 
the work of improving it is never finished. Presidents Jimmy 
Carter and Gerald 
Ford--two men who took part in another close election, I might add, and 
who went on to have a close friendship--have come together to produce 
recommendations for modernizing the electoral system.
    I want to thank the University of Virginia's Miller Center and the 
Century Foundation as well. Mr. Carter and Mr. 
Ford recruited a Commission of 20 
distinguished Americans from both parties and every region of the 
country. I respect the members so much that I appointed one of them to 
become the Ambassador to Japan, Howard Baker.
    The others continued to take testimony. They held hearings in four 
States, listened to dozens of witnesses, and consulted widely with State 
and local officials. They identified some important concerns--for 
example, the overeagerness of the media to report the outcome of the 
elections. [Laughter] Some voting methods have much higher error rates 
than others. And citizens with disabilities or limited proficiency in 
English can encounter obstacles to the exercise of their democratic 
rights.
    The Commissioners brought a broad diversity of personal experience 
to bear. Seven Commissioners, in addition to President Ford and President Carter, have been 
elected to office themselves and have seen Americans' voting procedures 
up close and personal. Other members have had experience enforcing our 
Nation's civil rights and voting rights laws. Others are experts in 
constitutional law and the mechanics of government. This Commission's 
idealism is reinforced by deep practical experience.
    The Commissioners offer many recommendations to strengthen our 
electoral system. Those recommendations are grounded in four fundamental 
principles, which I heartily endorse and recommend to the Congress.
    First, our Nation must continue to respect the primary role of 
State, county, and local governments in elections. In 2000 more than 100 
million Americans cast votes in more than 190,000 polling places under 
the supervision of 1.4 million pollworkers. Our Nation is vast and 
diverse, and our elections should not be run out of Washington, DC.
    Second, the Federal Government can have a limited but responsible 
role in assisting States and localities to solve their problems with 
election administration so that our voting technology and practices 
respect the value of every eligible vote.
    Third, we must actively and vigorously enforce the laws that protect 
the voting rights of ethnic and racial minorities, of

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citizens who do not speak English fluently, and of the elderly and 
persons with disabilities.
    Let me say, by the way, how pleased I am that the Commission 
occasionally cited the great State of Texas for its good work.
    Fourth and finally, we must act to uphold the voting rights of 
members of the armed services and of Americans living abroad. We must 
safeguard absentee ballots against abuse, and we must ensure that those 
Americans who risked their lives to defend American democracy are never 
prevented from participating in American democracy.
    These are some of the core principles underlying the Commission's 
report, and they are principles that should guide us all. I commend the 
Commissioners for their statesmanlike work. They have risen above 
partisan emotions, put forth practical suggestions for improving 
democracy, and the United States Congress should listen to them and 
follow their lead.
    It is now my honor to call back to the podium a man who has been 
here quite often in the past, the President of the United States, Jimmy 
Carter.

Note: The President spoke at 11 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to former Representative Robert H. 
Michel.