[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 37, Number 3 (Monday, January 22, 2001)]
[Pages 120-121]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Exchange With Reporters at the Greenleaf Senior Center

January 15, 2001

[The President's remarks are joined in progress.]

Voters' Rights Legislation

    The President. ----problems that are still out there that have to 
be--I believe should be addressed, and I hope they will be. But I 
think--looking at this in a positive frame of mind and hope to goodness 
that there will be a real common commitment that goes way beyond party 
interest.
    Q. Are you encouraged, sir, by what you've seen so far?
    The President. Now you guys know I'm not going to get into that. I'm 
on my way out the door, man; I shouldn't be talking about that. 
[Laughter] I just want to focus on the things that I said today and the 
message I sent to Congress. I think that there are a lot of problems. I 
hope that the President-elect will appoint a high-level election 
commission--I think it would be good to have former Presidents share 
it--to deal with all the voting rights issues that are out there. I hope 
that there will be something done on--some more done on the criminal 
justice system to give people of color, all racial and ethnic 
backgrounds, a sense that the system is more fair--and to make it more 
fair. And I gave some specific recommendations there. I'd really like to 
see some--I hope there will be some action on that.

President's Agenda for the Final Days

    Q. Sir, more generally, going into your last week as President, what 
are your thoughts?
    The President. That we've still got a few things to do.
    Q. What are those things?
    The President. We're working on--obviously, we're still involved in 
the talks on the Middle East. And we're working with Secretary Babbitt 
to try to finalize some more resource preservation action. And I have, 
as always happens at the end of a President's term, to see hundreds and 
hundreds and hundreds, literally, of requests for consideration for 
executive clemency of some kind or another for people who have been 
incarcerated or who are out and asked for pardons so they can get their 
voting rights back.
    That's one thing I'd really like to see the Congress do. There's 
some legislation in Congress which would restore people's voting rights 
after they serve their sentences, and I think it would be a very good 
thing to pass.

[[Page 121]]

    We did that in Arkansas 24 years ago, so that now when someone 
serves their sentence, including the probation, they automatically get 
the right to vote back. It's a very cumbersome process. A lot of people, 
particularly less well-educated people, without much money, they have no 
idea how to get a Federal pardon or that they can get it. And the system 
often takes years and years and years. And I think--it would seem to me 
that most Americans would agree, when someone serves their sentence and 
pays their debt to society, we all, the rest of us, have a vested 
interest in their becoming law-abiding and contributing citizens.
    And I think that there may be other reasons people want to or need 
to apply for a Federal pardon, but I don't think the right to vote is 
one of them. So that's one thing I would really like to see done. As I 
said, we amended the Voting Rights Act in Arkansas--or constitutional 
amendment--when I was attorney general in 1977, to do that.
    And I regret that we couldn't pass the legislation this year. But I 
think that there's a lot of bipartisan interest in it, especially among 
people who have thought about it and have personal contacts. If you look 
at this whole Federal pardon process, part of--a big reason people do it 
is to get the right to vote back. And they understand that the pardon is 
not really a pardon saying it's okay what you did. That's not what this 
is about. It's about basically saying this person has lived a good 
enough life that they ought to be given a chance to be a full citizen.
    So, when it comes to voting, I don't think they ought to have to get 
a pardon. I think they ought to just change the law--completed their 
sentence, including the parole period, they automatically get their 
right to vote back. And I think most Americans would support that. I've 
never had a word of criticism in my home State about it in 20-some 
years.

Note: The exchange began at 10:45 a.m. In his remarks, the President 
referred to President-elect George W. Bush. The transcript released by 
the Office of the Press Secretary did not include the complete opening 
remarks of the President. A tape was not available for verification of 
the content of this exchange.