IV

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. CON. RES. 444

Expressing the sense of Congress that the right of all members of the

uniformed services and their dependents to vote should be reaffirmed

by having the Attorney General take all appropriate actions to protect

those rights in the State of Florida.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

DECEMBER 5, 2000

Mr. BONILLA (for himself, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, and Mr. SAM JOHNSON of

Texas) submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred

to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on

House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by the

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

Expressing the sense of Congress that the right of all members of the uniformed services and their dependents to

vote should be reaffirmed by having the Attorney General

take all appropriate actions to protect those rights in

the State of Florida.

Whereas over 1,500 absentee ballots submitted by members

of the uniformed services for the 2000 presidential election have been rejected in the State of Florida as part

of a partisan campaign to overturn the results of the

election;
2

•HCON 444 IH

Whereas these targeted efforts to nullify the votes of absent

military personnel and their dependents are a partisan effort to disenfranchise the very people who defend our

freedom;

Whereas a similar attempt to disqualify ballots submitted by

military personnel occurred in 1996 in Val Verde County,

Texas, as part of an effort to overturn local election results in the courts;

Whereas the Federal Government controls the freedom of

movement of members of the uniformed services and

their dependents, and therefore has a special responsibility to defend their rights to vote;

Whereas deployment outside of the home of record denies the

defenders of our Nation any opportunity to exercise their

constitutional right to vote other than through the use of

absentee ballots;

Whereas the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act recognizes these concerns by requiring States to

accept a Federal write-in ballot submitted by absent overseas voters, and the laws of all States and other jurisdictions which conduct Federal elections recognize the rights

of members of the uniformed services and their dependents to cast votes in their homes of record;

Whereas the importance of vigilance in defending these rights

is even more crucial at a time when military personnel

are scattered across the world in a record number of deployments; and

Whereas the failure to defend these critical rights will only

exacerbate the serious problems of the military in retaining and recruiting qualified personnel: Now, therefore, be

it
3

•HCON 444 IH

1 Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate

2 concurring),

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This concurrent resolution may be cited as the ‘‘All

5 American Voting Rights Resolution’’.

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

7 It is the sense of Congress that—

8 (1) Federal, State, and local governments must

9 make every effort to count the votes of members of

10 the uniformed services and their dependents who

11 have submitted ballots legally and in good faith;

12 (2) the Attorney General should fully inves13 tigate all allegations of abuses against the voting

14 rights of members of the uniformed services and

15 their dependents which have occurred or are occur16 ring in the State of Florida; and

17 (3) the failure of the Attorney General to take

18 action in these matters would violate the funda19 mental principles on which our American democracy

20 is founded.

Æ