Political Quotes

“I rise in support of H.R. 3295, the Help America Vote Act of 2001. The 2000 presidential election demonstrated the need for reform of the nation's electoral system. There is no doubt that tens of thousands of voters were disenfranchised in the election. It is quite probable that similar numbers have been disenfranchised in other elections, but the closeness of the 2000 presidential election highlighted the problem like no other. A nation that can launch a craft to a space station hundreds of miles above the earth, should be able to count every ballot accurately. I believe the federal government must take a leading role in this effort by establishing minimum voting standards and providing funding to modernize voting systems. When you introduce technology into an election, it leaves room for error. My Congressional district is a clear example of this. Prior to my election to Congress in 1998, I served for seven years as a County Commissioner in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a County of over 700,000 people. During my tenure, I supervised the replacement of the old, mechanical voting machines in Montgomery County with those using the more modern advanced touch screen technology that are widely recognized as the most reliable voting machines in terms of accuracy of vote tabulation.”