Tom Harkin: “I would like to clarify some issues related to my amendment that passed the Senate earlier this week regarding the…”

“I would like to clarify some issues related to my amendment that passed the Senate earlier this week regarding the establishment of a protection and advocacy system to ensure that people with disabilities have full and equal access to the election process. Among other provisions, my amendment states that protection and advocacy systems under S. 565 may not resort to litigation when representing persons with disabilities who have been denied equal access to the polling place or to the voting process. I agreed to this provision with some trepidation, since the protection and advocacy system has a long and well established authority under several federal laws to pursue litigation to enforce the rights of people with disabilities. The protection and advocacy system has proven themselves to be responsible stewards of the public trust we as members of Congress have placed in them in regard to litigation. The protection and advocacy system is known for exhausting all other remedies before resorting to litigation, and in fact less than 5 percent of all cases handled by protection and advocacy systems nationally result in litigation.”