Diane Watson: “It has now been almost 9 months since the election fiasco of the year 2000, and for 9 months America's leaders have…”

“It has now been almost 9 months since the election fiasco of the year 2000, and for 9 months America's leaders have talked about election reform, but little has been done. This week yet another report was released detailing the breakdown of our voting process in America. A joint study by CalTech and MIT found that 4 to 6 million Americans lost their right to vote because of outdated or faulty voting equipment and a flawed process. This might come as a shock to some people, but it should not. Last week my colleagues and I on the House Committee on Government Reform released another study detailing the same problem. Too many Americans are forced to use outdated or faulty voting equipment and too many of these faulty machines are concentrated in the communities of the poor and minority voters. Mr. Speaker, we have had 9 months of study, 9 months of research, 9 months of reports. Now the American people want and deserve action. Mr. Speaker, please make election reform the number one priority of this House in time to make real lasting changes before next year's election.”