August 3, 2012 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — Extensions of Remarks E1423 

Congratulations to these latest inductees 

into the University of Arizona Hall of Fame. 

As a UA alumnus, I am proud of my alma 

mater on many levels and I am thrilled to say, 

well done, Cats, for this incredible season. 

Continue to ‘‘Bear Down Arizona!’’ 

f 

HONORING MS. STEPHANIE 

STUCKEY BENFIELD 

HON. JOHN LEWIS OF GEORGIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, August 2, 2012 

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I rise 

to congratulate Representative Stephanie 

Stuckey Benfield upon her retirement from the 

Georgia General Assembly and to thank her 

for her fourteen years of service. 

For years, Stephanie has valiantly fought for 

women’s rights, the environment, and families. 

She has been a leader in the Democratic 

Party, an advocate for all Georgians, and a 

dear friend. 

Born in Eastman, Georgia, Stephanie has 

always been an outdoors enthusiast. Her love 

for nature has translated into an active dedication to improving the environment and a commitment to clean water and air that grew 

stronger when her son was diagnosed with 

asthma. 

Stephanie obtained both her undergraduate 

and law degree from the University of Georgia. While in office, she received several prestigious awards, including the Environmental 

Leadership Award by the Georgia Conservation Voters and the Georgia Urban Forest 

Council Award for Promoting Arbor Day in 

public schools. It goes without question that 

her most notable accomplishment, however, 

has been her impeccable and unwavering 

service and support to Georgians. 

We all know how much Stephanie adores 

her husband, Robert H. Benfield, Jr., her son, 

Robert, and her daughter, Beverly. Although 

we will miss Stephanie’s enthusiasm and infinite knowledge in the General Assembly, I applaud her for continuing to be a proponent of 

the environment. Upon the end of her term, 

she will be the full-time leader of GreenLaw, 

where she will maintain her pledge to prevent 

air and water pollution that endangers human 

health and degrades Georgia’s natural resources. 

Representative Benfield, we will miss you 

terribly; you leave enormous shoes to fill. 

Thank you for your 14 years of service and for 

always putting the people of Georgia first. 

f 

RESPA HOME WARRANTY 

CLARIFICATION ACT OF 2011 

SPEECH OF

HON. JOE BACA OF CALIFORNIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Wesnesday, August 1, 2012 

Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of 

H.R. 2446, the RESPA Home Warranty Clarification Act. 

This bill clarifies that the sale of home warranties cannot be considered a settlement 

service, and therefore cannot be governed 

under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures 

Act, or RESPA. 

Many individuals buying a home want to 

avoid the financial risk of having to pay for 

major repairs on major systems and appliances. 

To reduce that risk and to get the peace of 

mind that comes with knowing they can help 

guard against the cost of significant repairs, 

home buyers often purchase a home warranty. 

Many individuals selling a home find that 

providing a home warranty at their own cost 

can help facilitate a quicker sale at a higher 

price by reducing the risk of the unknown for 

potential buyers. 

It is important to note that the purchase of 

the product is completely optional, and is not 

made mandatory by any financial institution or 

government sponsored enterprise during the 

home-buying process. 

Recently, however, HUD erroneously issued 

an interpretive rule blocking real estate agents 

from receiving a modest fee when they recommend the product to their client upon the 

purchase of their new home. 

As such, if this rule is allowed to stand, realtors would have no incentive to inform their clients about this product. 

Consequently, first-time homebuyers, or 

low- and moderate income-families may not 

be made aware of this option, instead being 

forced to pay full price for the replacement of 

their home’s most expensive appliances. 

At a time when our economy is still struggling, we need to ensure that hard working 

American families are still allowed to gain access to financial products that they depend on. 

That is why I urge my colleagues to support 

H.R. 2446. 

f 

CONGRESS MUST CALL FOR A NATIONAL MONTH OF VOTER REGISTRATION 

HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR. OF MICHIGAN

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, August 2, 2012 

Mr. CONYERS. Mr. Speaker, recent events 

have highlighted ongoing efforts to suppress 

the voting rights of American citizens. State 

representatives and political leaders in New 

Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Florida have 

made public admissions that their particular 

state laws were designed to put a dent in the 

democratic process. 

In order to confront this assault on the right 

to vote, we are introducing a resolution, expressing the sense of Congress that the 

month of September be dedicated to ensuring 

that every eligible citizen is registered to vote 

in the United States, calling for a National 

Month of Voter Registration. 

This resolution will call for a nation-wide 

focus to challenge voting age citizens around 

the country to register to vote and confirm the 

status of their voter registration. 

The National Month of Voter Registration 

will encourage citizens to take action and mobilize voter education efforts and voter registration efforts across the country. Since the 

2010 elections, misguided efforts in many 

states have led to the enactment of laws that 

could turn the clock back to pre-2008 levels of 

voter registration and voter turn-out. With no 

response, thousands of Americans may be 

subjected to state actions that are not in compliance with our federal voting standards and 

that harm the franchise. 

This national focus will challenge civil rights 

groups, third party voter registration groups, 

and voting eligible citizens to take action to 

conduct the following: 

Register to vote. With voter registration 

deadlines approaching, many citizens may 

face significant barriers if they wait until the 

final hours to register to vote. 

Verify voting status. Every voting eligible citizen will be encouraged to verify their voting 

status by confirming their presence on the 

voter rolls, and confirming that their address 

and personal identifying information in hand 

matches what the state or local board of elections has on file. Many voters believe that their 

voting status and information is current, however, citizens in Tennessee and Florida have 

already found that voter purging is real and 

can impact the right to vote without a voter 

being aware. 

Confirm polling place. Every voting eligible 

citizen will be encouraged to verify voting location before Election Day. Voters may find that 

their poling location has changed from prior 

elections. 

Mr. Speaker, I have not seen such an assault on the right to vote since the civil rights 

movement. As I look back on where we have 

come from in this country, it seems to me that 

some of these state voting changes mirror the 

negative trends of Jim Crow in their effect to 

scale back voting rights. 

For instance, last week, the Brennan Center 

released another report showing how new 

voter ID laws could impose serious financial 

burdens on eligible voters. If the right to vote 

is available to every American citizen, then 

why are states making it harder to exercise 

that right? 

I. addition, a second Judge in Wisconsin 

has deemed Wisconsin’s strict voter ID law 

unconstitutional under the state’s constitution. 

Litigants in the law suit found that the law created unnecessary hardships for minority voters 

who are less likely to possess a valid ID. On 

the other side of the argument, the state of 

Wisconsin argued that the law was going to 

help prevent voter fraud. 

Some state lawmakers have raised the 

issue of voter fraud to justify strict voter ID requirements and other strict voting changes. 

However, they won’t tell you that during the 

George W. Bush Administration’s five year 

probe of voter fraud from 2002–2007, that Administration came up with scant evidence of 

widespread voter fraud. 

In addition, they won’t tell you the amount of 

voter fraud cases that have come out of states 

that have strict voter ID, because there are 

none. There were no cases of fraud in state 

of Indiana when the Supreme Court ruled on 

Indiana’s voter ID law in Crawford v. Marion, 

and states like Pennsylvania, Florida, and 

Texas have publicly stated that there are no 

current cases of voter fraud being pursued in 

their states. Mr. Speaker, our voting rights are 

being threatened by the non-existent issue of 

voter fraud. 

Therefore, if states are going to present 

their worst laws to impact the franchise, then 

the American people have to rise up and combat these laws with better practices. 

During the National Month of Voter Registration, we encourage every American citizen 

to take back their right to vote. We will work 

with citizens to ensure that they register to 

vote, confirm their voting information is correct 

on the voting rolls, and verify that they know 

where to go to vote on Election Day. 


rfrederick on DSK6VPTVN1PROD with REMARKS