Political Quotes

“I rise in support of the election reform conference report before us today. I have strongly advocated election reform in my home State of Louisiana in the past and continue to do so here in Congress. I am pleased that this legislation is a strong step toward correcting many of the flaws in the current system. Following the 2000 election, I was incensed that there would be any attempt by political operatives to disenfranchise our brave men and women in the Armed Services overseas. In response I introduced legislation to remedy the situation, and am pleased to see the conference report takes important measures similar to the ones I proposed to ensure military overseas ballots are counted. Our service personnel deserve no less. I applaud the efforts of the conference to address the issue of voter fraud as well. Statewide voting lists, presenting identification when voting, purging names from lists for those that do not vote, and strengthening penalties for those convicted of voting fraud will all help States deal with the problem of vote fraud, which is an assault on our democratic system. Lastly, I would like to commend the conferees for their work in helping ensure that the disabled have access to voting machines in each precinct. Voters should never be disenfranchised because of any sort of disability and I now hope Congress will follow through with funds.”