Kendrick Meek: “Mr. Speaker, this motion instructs the conferees on H.R. 3295, the election reform legislation, to complete their work…”

“Mr. Speaker, this motion instructs the conferees on H.R. 3295, the election reform legislation, to complete their work and file a conference report prior to October 4, 2002. I speak with a sense of urgency, Mr. Speaker. It has been almost 2 years since the 2000 Presidential election, an election that created a crisis of confidence in our Nation's election system. Last month we had a primary election in Florida that reinforced the need for immediate action on election reform, as it confirmed that many problems that plagued the 2000 Presidential election in Florida are continuing, Mr. Speaker. It has been more than 9 months since the House of Representatives passed the Help America Vote Act, H.R. 3295. It has been more than 5 months since the Senate passed their version of election reform legislation, Senate bill 765, the Martin Luther King, Jr., Equal Protection of Voting Rights Act of 2002. The Senate passed it by a vote of 99 to 1, yet the conferees still have not completed this. There is a sense of urgency, I repeat.”