Kendra S. Horn: “Today, the House has an opportunity to address the many problems that were uncovered in past years' Presidential…”

“Today, the House has an opportunity to address the many problems that were uncovered in past years' Presidential elections. In Florida and many other States, the past election made clear that there are serious doubts about how we conduct some of our elections. This bill sets minimum Federal standards that the States must meet, and it provides more than $2.6 billion in Federal funds to help them meet those standards. The bill specifically provides $400 million to begin getting rid of all the other punch card voting machines that were such a problem in Florida and many other places. Former Presidents Carter and Ford headed a national commission to examine solutions for all of the problems in our electoral system. They endorse this bill, so does the Los Angeles Times and dozens of other newspapers. It is a sensible step to protect the rights of voters, and we should pass it without further delay. The legislation before us is well balanced, generally bipartisan. I congratulate the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman Ney) and the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer) for this wonderful bill that we have before us. They have produced excellent work in doing this; and the bill before us, H.R. 3295, the Help America Vote Act, offers a comprehensive and sensible response that will help to eliminate those doubts and restore the integrity and credibility of our elections.”