Political Quotes

“I thank the gentlelady from Ohio for leading this wonderful Special Order hour, and I rise this evening to express my concerns about the voter ID legislation being passed in States across this country. The State of Alabama and other States have passed a law that requires voters to use a photo to ID to be valid. Now I believe that these types of voter ID laws are really implemented in order to discourage and delay full voter participation in communities across this Nation. It has been alleged by some that voter ID laws are needed to prevent fraud and protect voters who are being victimized. Some political pundits have been taking shots at my own district in Alabama, in particular, alleging blatant voter fraud. Now I have received numerous feedback from my constituents to the contrary. In fact, my constituents attest that they are offended at the very thought that these voter ID laws are allegedly about voter protection. The fact is that these voter ID laws are about voter suppression, not voter protection. These laws are in search of a problem that does not exist. Between 2002 and 2005, just 24 people were convicted of or pled guilty at the Federal level to illegal voting. The reality is that 11 percent of U.S. citizens, or more than 21 million Americans, do not have government-issued photo identification. Also, as many as 25 percent of all African American citizens of voting age do not have government-issued photo IDs.…”