Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to decry last week's Supreme Court decision in the Ohio voting case, Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute. Mr. Speaker, the ruling appears to willfully misinterpret the plain statutory language of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993. It lays waste to congressional intent and sets a dangerous precedent of being permissive of voter suppression across the country. The NVRA was enacted with the express purpose of increasing voter registration and protecting against voter purges, and it plainly prohibits States from removing voters from rolls ``by reason of the person's failure to vote.'' Yet this is exactly what the State of Ohio is doing. Ohio officials are purging voters if they do not vote in three consecutive Federal elections. I believe every person should vote in every election, but there may be valid reasons why they have not. We should be erring on the side of caution. Our democracy is built on each person having a voice. Yet the Supreme Court has affirmed Ohio's right to silence those voices. Congress must now act to correct this injustice and restore the rights the Court has so carelessly cast aside. ____________________”