Pelosi slams 'tawdry' GOP attempt to suppress millions of votes with Voter ID bill

RAW STORY
Published: Wednesday September 20, 2006

On the House floor earlier today, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi blasted what she called a "tawdry" GOP attempt to suppress millions of votes with a Voter ID bill, RAW STORY has learned.

"Though the right to vote is the foundation of our democracy, the bill we debate today would in effect disenfranchise millions of American voters: the elderly, African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, people with disabilities; and the list goes on," said Pelosi.

If passed, the "Federal Election Integrity Act" (HR 4844) would require eligible citizens to show government-issued, current and valid photo identification at the polling place in 2008 in order to vote and proof of citizenship by 2010.

"And that is why it is so sad to see this bill come here to the floor today, especially named the Federal Election Integrity Act," said Pelosi. "Integrity, it's not about integrity."

"It's about a tawdry attempt by Republicans to suppress the votes of millions of American citizens," Pelosi continued. "That is not integrity."

Transcript of Pelosi's remarks on the House Floor:

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"'This cannot be.' With those words, Judge Jackson Bedford yesterday struck down the infamous Georgia voter photo ID law. Let me repeat: 'This cannot be.' Let these words guide us here, because right here in this House of Representatives, we take an oath to up hold the Constitution of the United States. That Constitution guarantees all America citizens the right to vote and the right for their vote to be counted.

"I thank the distinguished the gentlelady from California, Ms. Millender-McDonald, the ranking Democrat on the House Administration Committee, for her leadership on this issue. She has been an important force in protecting the integrity of elections. And that is why it is so sad to see this bill come here to the floor today, especially named the Federal Election Integrity Act. Integrity, it's not about integrity. It's about a tawdry attempt by Republicans to suppress the votes of millions of American citizens. That is not integrity.

"America is a beacon of democracy to the world. We must continue to send a message to the world that we honor the oath of office that we take to protect and defend the Constitution. Every eligible American citizen must be able to exercise their right to vote, and have their vote counted.

"Only a short month and a half ago, many of us here stood proudly on the White House lawn as the Voting Rights Act Reauthorization was signed into law. We overcame many obstacles, even for the reauthorization of that legislation, to affirm the most precious right in our democracy - the right to vote.

"Today, however, we are undermining that right to vote, and the reauthorization of the VRA. And in doing so, we are undermining our democracy. Though the right to vote is the foundation of our democracy, the bill we debate today would in effect disenfranchise millions of American voters: the elderly, African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, people with disabilities; and the list goes on. As the NAACP has said, this bill 'would disenfranchise many of the very citizens that the VRA is designed to protect.' And the Republicans call that integrity. I don't think so.

"A few weeks ago, President Bush spoke before the NAACP for the first time in his presidency. He quoted President Lyndon Johnson in saying that voting rights are the lifeblood of democracy. And here today, after making that great statement, quoting that great civil rights and voting rights President, President Bush's party is here today in a transparent attempt to suppress the votes of millions of American citizens, cutting of the lifeblood of democracy. Is that integrity? I don't think so.

"Supporters of this Republican voter suppression bill will claim this bill is about preventing non-citizens from voting. It's just the opposite. It's a bill designed to prevent citizens from voting. Non-citizens are strictly prohibited under law from voting and face tough penalties for breaking these laws, and that's right. No one condones fraud; there is little evidence anywhere in the country of a significant problem with non-citizen voters, as our distinguished Ranking Member pointed out. If you want to make a case, document it. Just don't claim it and then come through with a clear and transparent attempt to cut off the votes of those who don't share your political point of view. You didn't take an oath of office to do that.

"As we know from experience, Republican promises to authorize funds for identification are meaningless. We were supposed to have had $800 million allocated to remove obstacles to participation and facilitate voting. But because that would expand the universe of people who have access to the right to vote, the Republicans have rejected it for fear of the result of that turnout. Republicans have a history of underfunding election reform - they have underfunded the Help America Vote Act by $800 million. How they can explain that, I don't know. I know one thing: it's not about integrity.

"Problems with voting that were apparent in the elections of 2000 and 2004 are well-known and of grave concern to the American people. Those elections had uncomfortable echoes to a past that should have been long left behind. In the 2004 elections, voters in predominantly minority districts reported higher rates of inactive voter registrations, a greater percentage of inadequately staffed and equipped polling places, inconsistent treatment of provisional ballots - many of which never were counted - and sometimes even a lack of an adequate number of ballots. Even with the best intentions, it's challenging, as we saw in the state of Maryland last week. But if the design is to thwart voter participation, how much at a disadvantage is the average voter?

"Mr. Speaker, 40 years ago, in one of our nation's finest hours, our country came together as a nation to overcome bigotry and injustice and to secure the fundamental right to vote. With the passage of the Voting Rights Act, we said that we would no longer tolerate the many nefarious methods - poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and as our colleague John Lewis can attest, brutal violence - that had been used to deny African Americans and other minority citizens the right to vote. Today this legislation seeks to turn back the clock. And they call it integrity.

"Those of us who take an oath of office - I go back to that oath over and over again - promise to uphold the Constitution. We commit to ensuring that everyone who is eligible to vote is able to vote, and that every vote is counted. Any diminishment of American citizens' voting is a diminishment of our democracy. This cannot be."

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