Bob Menendez: “with H.R. 1428, which I call ``the voter suppression and antivoter privacy act,'' Republicans are proving that they are…”

“with H.R. 1428, which I call ``the voter suppression and antivoter privacy act,'' Republicans are proving that they are the party of big, prying and intrusive government. Republicans want the Social Security Administration, the INS, the Justice Department to run background checks and share private information on American citizens who simply want to register to vote. Unless things have changed since I was in law school, Americans have the right to vote without going through a security check by ``big brother'' government. Why would Republicans do this? Maybe it is that they just finished blowing a million taxpayers' dollars in a 14-month investigation in the Loretta Sanchez case that they could not prove. What is next in the Republican plan? Will the FBI run checks on everyone who gets a driver's license? Will Social Security recipients be fingerprinted by the INS? And who will be targeted by the Republican efforts? Americans of Hispanic descent and other minorities who have common last names often found on immigration lists and who simply do not look like our typical mode. We have to make it more convenient for our citizens to vote, not more difficult and intimidating. If that scares Republicans, more working families mean fewer Republican votes.”