Joe Baca: “I want to recognize my colleagues, Mr. Hoyer and Mr. Gonzalez, for organizing this special order hour. The United States…”

“I want to recognize my colleagues, Mr. Hoyer and Mr. Gonzalez, for organizing this special order hour. The United States is the land of opportunity, and it functions on the premise that every American citizen has natural given rights outlined in our Constitution. Maybe the most important of these rights is the right to make our voices heard in the voting booth. Unfortunately, some states in our great nation have passed laws that actively work to suppress this sacred right. The Republican leadership in Wisconsin, Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas have all passed measures that drastically change Voter-ID requirements. In Wisconsin--elderly and disabled voters will no longer be able to use their Social Security identification to vote. In Texas--student IDs will no longer be recognized at the polls. These types of measures have the potential to impact 5 million voters in the United States. Those impacted are most likely to be the youth, minority, elderly, disabled, and low-income voters. Some claim that the reason for such measures is to combat ``voter fraud.'' But there is absolutely no evidence to prove this theory true. Since October 2002--86 individuals have been convicted of federal crimes relating to election fraud, while over 196 million ballots have been cast in federal general elections. Voter fraud is exceedingly rare, and when it does happen, it's doesn't occur at the polls through impersonation.…”