Alcee Hastings: “Mr. Speaker, I did not offer this motion to instruct to rehash the 2000 election debacle. We have plenty of opportunity…”

“Mr. Speaker, I did not offer this motion to instruct to rehash the 2000 election debacle. We have plenty of opportunity to do that in 2004. But I did offer the motion to highlight and remind Members of the commitment that this body made last year to reform our country's election system. I offered this motion so that the thousands of my constituents and others around the U.S. who were demonized, demoralized and disenfranchised after the 2000 election can go to bed tonight knowing that Congress is serious about ensuring their votes are not only counted but actually count. I have already introduced the next generations of election reform in the form of the Voter Outreach and Turnout Expansion Act. The VOTE Act allows no excuse absentee voting, requires early voting opportunities, not less than 3 weeks prior to the general election day, requires adequate notification to voters who submit incomplete voter registration forms by mail, treat election day as a Federal holiday, and provides leave time for private employees to vote on Election Day.”