G. K. Butterfield: “Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.”

Let me say thank you to our colleague, and fellow Member of the Committee on House Administration, my friend Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon of the Fifth District.

Where we diverge is how to preserve the program for those in actual need without regulatory loopholes and fuzzy interpretations of the law, both of which exploit the very intent of the program.

I had spent thirty years in a courtroom before coming to Congress, and, you know, in a courtroom, the rules are so much different than the rules for ethics for Members of Congress.

I want to remind my friend from Arizona who just spoke that this bill sets uniform national standards for States that choose to require identification to vote. The bill gives States the flexibility--flexibility--to choose whether to…