On the recordJune 21, 2011
It passed the House by 357 votes to 48 and passed the Senate with only two votes against. Before HAVA, the Federal Government guaranteed voting rights, but it did little to ensure, on the nuts-and-bolts level, that our objectives were carried out. As part of its efforts toward that end, HAVA created a bipartisan Election Assistance Commission, whose job is to administer grants to States and provide States with ongoing guidance. My good friend from California (Mr. Lungren), with whom I have served for a number of years, is wrong. There was no intention to make this a temporary agency just for the distribution of grants. It was an ongoing advisory agency to make sure that best practices were pursued, not because they can impose but because they can advise, an extraordinarily worthwhile event. The EAC has created a comprehensive program to test State voting systems for accuracy. Don't we all want that? And use of this program has been shown to save our States millions of dollars, as the ranking member just said. The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has again expired.
