Political Quotes

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker and my colleagues, there is no doubt that a concerted voter suppression effort is under way in this Nation. Abolishing the Election Assistance Commission, an agency charged with ensuring that the vote of every American counts, is just another step in the voter suppression effort and would completely remove oversight of the most important process in our democracy. Does it make sense to remove oversight at a time when Republican-led legislatures across this Nation are passing laws to obstruct voting? No, it absolutely does not. In the first three quarters of 2011, 19 new State laws and two executive actions were enacted to limit the ability of American citizens to vote. They would make it significantly harder for more than 5 million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012. Many of the bills, including one signed into law in my home State of Ohio, include the most drastic voter restrictions since before the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Seniors will be denied their right to the franchise, and the disabled will find it more difficult to vote. Minorities and students will face more challenges than ever before. Soldiers honorably serving our country will be left with their absentee ballots uncounted. And let's not forget the people who died for our right to vote. People were slain to create the rights we enjoy today.…”