Ron Wyden: “let me join in the extraordinarily important comments that have been made by Senator Dodd and Senator McConnell. This…”

“let me join in the extraordinarily important comments that have been made by Senator Dodd and Senator McConnell. This has been a huge and arduous task that had to be bipartisan. The fact is, you can't get anything done that really is important without it being bipartisan. I take a moment to thank Senator Dodd. He has been extraordinarily patient with me and with all of the Members of this body who come from States that have pioneered innovative approaches. It is fair to say right now with millions of Americans essentially being early voters, there have been estimates that something along the lines of 15 percent of the American people are going to vote early. The legislation that Senator Dodd and Senator McConnell brings to us today protects the wave of the future--this early voting--whether it be by absentee ballot or the pioneering vote-by-mail system. What this legislation does is protect the early voters--the person we are seeing more and more of in the American political process--by, in effect, taking steps to discourage fraud at the front end when people register, and then making sure that people don't face unnecessary barriers and hassles when they actually participate in the fall of even-numbered years. So I commend Senators Dodd and McConnell for their work in this area.”