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[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 444 Introduced in House (IH)]

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;
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
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This concurrent resolution may be cited as the ``All American 
Voting Rights Resolution''.

SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) Federal, State, and local governments must make every 
        effort to count the votes of members of the uniformed services 
        and their dependents who have submitted ballots legally and in 
        good faith;
            (2) the Attorney General should fully investigate all 
        allegations of abuses against the voting rights of members of 
        the uniformed services and their dependents which have occurred 
        or are occurring in the State of Florida; and
            (3) the failure of the Attorney General to take action in 
        these matters would violate the fundamental principles on which 
        our American democracy is founded.
                                 <all>
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