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[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 24, 1995)]
[House]
[Pages H5563-H5566]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

                   THE REAL ENVIRONMENTAL EXTREMISTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Nethercutt). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of May 12, 1995, the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. 
Lewis] is recognized for 30 minutes as the designee of the minority 
leader.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio 
[Mr. Brown], my friend and colleague.
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I just sat here listening for the 
last hour as the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] did, and my friend, 
the gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mr. Clayton] talking about 
environmental extremists and environmental extremism.
  The fact is that 70 percent of the American public wants to see not 
weaker but stronger environmental laws, and the real extremists and the 
real radicals in this environmental debate are not people that support 
the clean water laws and not people that support the clean air laws and 
not people that support public health laws, but the real extremists are 
a good many Republicans in this body who literally want to privatize 
some of the national parks, sell the national parks to large 
corporations, want to roll back a lot of the environmental laws, clean 
air laws, safe drinking water laws, laws that affect, that we have 
built a consensus in this country around that have given us the best 
public health in our history, that have given us the best, strongest 
laws in the world to protect our citizens against everything from 
breast cancer to tuberculosis. We have done that well in this country 
in the last 3 or 4 decades, something I am proud of.
  I live in Lorain, Ohio. My back door looks out over Lake Erie. Twenty 
years ago, Lake Erie was declared dead in many parts. Part of the 
Cuyahoga River in Cleveland caught on fire.
  Becuase of the efforts of the U.S. EPA, because of the commitment of 
a lot of people in Lorain, Cleveland, Medina, and all of northeast Ohio 
and other areas, we as a Nation were able to clean up that lake, so my 
daughters, Emily and Elizabeth, can now swim in Lake Erie, and other 
people, we drink the water, we can enjoy that lake recreationally, and 
it helps create jobs. It helps attract people to the Great Lakes to 
build their businesses and build their industries and employ people.
  The extremists and the environmental issue are not those 70 or 80 
percent of the American people that want clean air, pure food, safe 
drinking water for their children and their families and their 
grandchildren, but the people that want to sell off the national parks 
and allow the chemical companies and other polluters to write the laws 
that dismantle the best environmental laws in our history and the best 
environmental laws in the whole world, and that is what concerns me 
when I hear this kind of debate on the House floor.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. I say to my friend, the gentleman from Ohio 
[Mr. Brown] I must agree with you. There is nothing radical about 
wanting to know what is in the air we breathe, what is in the water we 
drink or what is in the food we eat. I thank the gentleman very much 
for his comments.
  I yield to the gentlewoman from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton].

                    celebrating the motor-voter law

  Mrs. CLAYTON. Mr. Speaker, I also want to applaud my colleague, the 
gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] for organizing this special order 
and his dedication and commitment to the cause of voting and the rights 
of civil rights. He has an impeccable reputation, and those people who 
know of his record know that, indeed, the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. 
Lewis] is a long-distance runner in the struggle for civil rights and 
the opportunity for basic rights that the Constitution affords all 
Americans, the right to vote for all our citizens.
  He has faced all manner of discouragement, and yet he has never been 
discouraged. I just want to thank you, I say to the gentleman from 
Georgia [Mr. Lewis], for not only this special order but for the life 
that you have lived and showing that America should be there for 
everyone and living the life that is exemplary, what you are. And so I 
am delighted to participate with you.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. I thank the gentlewoman for those comments.
  Mrs. CLAYTON. The right to vote is a precious right because all 
rights derive from the voting right. Freedom of speech, which we know 
as the First Amendment, has far less meaning without the right to vote 
and to elect those persons who will uphold that
 fundamental freedom.

  Freedom from illegal search and seizure, which we know as the fourth 
amendment, has little meaning if those who hold elective office do not 
stand up and protect those basic freedoms.
  The term due process, the fifth amendment, providing important 
procedural safeguards, guaranteed by the Constitution, become mere 
words if those who we elect fail to protect them.
  And the equality of treatment under the law, the 14th amendment, is a 
platitude we talk about that becomes a living reality only when, now 
only when, those we vote into office become champions of those rights.
  The Constitution is a living and breathing document that gets its 
life from people we elect.
  It is, therefore, clearly the best way to safeguard all of our rights 
is to exercise our most fundamental right, and that is the right to 
vote. And the first step in exercising that right obviously is to 
register. We in Congress have made registering to vote easy. The 
National Voter Registration Act of 1993, the so-called motor voter 
bill, was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Clinton 
May 20, 1993.
  The motor voter act took effect January 1 of this year. It requires 
basically that we get our drivers license, we can register by mail, any 
time we get public services, those three areas allow us to register 
very easily. With this simplified registration, we expect citizens will 
register to vote.
  Indeed, in North Carolina, since implementation of the motor voter 
law, some 88,000 new voters have registered, 88,000. The reason for the 
simplified registration procedure is actually to encourage more people 
to participate, and we know there has been a declining participation of 
citizens in elections, so we need to do that.
  One author has said the deadliest enemy is not really those who live 
in foreign lands but really it is within ourselves. I want to say to 
you, John, that the same thing could be applied to us in our own 
community or in our own private life: The deadliest enemy is not 
[[Page H5564]] without, it is within, and that deadly enemy that is 
within is those who would discourage the participation, and this would 
be apathy, idleness, inattention and indifference. And because of these
 enemies, only about one-fourth of those voting last November actually 
voted, and so, therefore, we had, what, the Contract With America as a 
result of that, apathy and indifference, although we have the right to 
register.

  The majority of Americans did not vote for those who pressed for the 
Contract With America. The proponents offered it, nevertheless, but 
one-half of them accepted that, only one-half of that 25 percent who 
voted, but nevertheless if people had voted, it would have been a 
different study.
  Compare the record with those who voted in Africa. When people voted 
in Africa, they stood in long lines to vote; they stood, and the 
weather was inclement. Some of the people were disabled themselves, but 
they wanted to vote so well that they would suffer personal indignities 
just to have the opportunity to vote, the threat of violence, even 
death, for those who were in South Africa. They wanted the opportunity 
to participate.
  And I think, I would say to the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis] 
that we, too, need to have that same sort of spirit that the right to 
vote guarantees all other rights, and unless we understand that very 
fundamentally, that the Constitution is indeed a living and breathing 
instrument and each of those elements are important, but unless we 
exercise our right to vote, we will not have people who will implement 
properly the Constitution.
  Again, I want to thank the gentleman for the efforts you had in 
making the motor voter a reality and thank you for allowing us to 
participate with you on this anniversary.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Let me just thank the gentlewoman from North 
Carolina for those comments, those words, and for participating really 
in this special order tonight.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Ohio [Mr Brown]
  Mr. BROWN of Ohio. It is my pleasure to join with the gentlewoman 
from North Carolina [Mrs. Clayton] and the gentleman from Georgia [Ms. 
McKinney], and also the gentleman from Georgia, [Mr. Lewis], 
celebrating the second-year anniversary of one of the things that I 
think was very positive, one of those most positive accomplishments of 
this dead in Congress, and that is the National Voter Registrations 
Act, which is the final jewel in opening up our political system to 
everyone in this country.
  Unfortunately, there are some people that in this body want to repeal 
the National Voter Registration Act, and some Republican Governors 
around the country that do not want to implement it even though it is 
the most efficient, most cost-effective way to achieve universal voter 
registration in this society.
  I was Ohio secretary of state for 8 years. One of my jobs was to 
encourage people and do all I could to get them to register to vote. We 
registered literally 1 million people over those 8 years. We were able 
to do it by using a lot of the motor voter registration at unemployment 
offices, registration at restaurants, reaching out all over to people 
in all walks of life, and it works.
  Nationally, that is what is happening right now. we are reaching into 
all segments of the community, rich and poor, black and white, men and 
women, all across the board. We are seeing hundreds of thousands of 
people in State after State after State register to vote.
                              {time}  2000

  If we are going to be the kind of democracy that we need in this 
country that we have all striven for, it means we need to expand the 
number of people voting so everyone has a choice in selecting the next 
Congress, selecting the next President.
  I say to the gentleman, ``I am proud to join with you, Mr. Lewis, in 
your efforts to get more people registered to vote, whether it is--
regardless of where those people are registered, whether it is a 
government office, whether it is a license bureau, whatever kind of 
place it might be, so that people more efficiently can find 
opportunities to register to vote all over our land. It has made a 
difference in registering millions of voters and expanding the 
electorate so we do, in fact, like most countries in the world, have 
universal suffrage so more and more people vote and choose our 
leaders.''
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman again for his efforts in bringing 
us the National Voter Registration Act.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. I want to thank my friend, the gentleman from 
Ohio [Mr. Brown], for participating in this special order, for all of 
his good work to increase voter participation, long before I came to 
this body, as the Secretary of State of the great State of Ohio. I say 
to the gentleman, ``Thank you very much.'' On January 1 of this year, 
the National Voter Registration Act, known as motor-voter, went into 
effect. This month marks the two year anniversary of Motor Voter 
becoming law. Tonight I want to recognize the important role Motor 
Voter has played in registering voters and promoting democracy.
  The motor-voter law allows citizens to register at motor vehicle 
bureaus, welfare offices and other agencies. The goal of the law is to 
simplify voter registration and encourage people to participate in the 
political process. After only 3 months, the results are in. Motor Voter 
is working.
  In only 3 months, over 2 million citizens have registered or updated 
their registration. Motor Voter will add an estimated 20 million voters 
to the rolls by the 1996 election. Motor Voter would be an even greater 
success if all states complied with the law.
  Unfortunately, some States have not complied with the Motor Voter 
law. They refuse to follow the law of the land. Even some Members of 
Congress oppose Motor Voter. They want to repeal this successful law.
  Mr. Speaker, during an earlier period of my life, I put my body, my 
heart and my soul on the line to increase participation of all people 
in the political process. From the sit-ins to the Freedom Rides to the 
March on Washington, to the March from Selma to Montgomery, I and 
thousands of others worked for the civil rights of all Americans. We 
wanted to make one man, one vote--one woman, one vote--a reality. This 
was our cause.
  In the history of our nation, we were not alone. Time and again, 
ordinary American citizens have risen in defense of one person, one 
vote. From the Minutemen at Lexington and Concord to Abraham Lincoln--
from Susan B. Anthony to Viola Liuzzo--from Dr. Martin Luther King, 
Jr., to James Chaney, Andy Goodman and Mickey Schwerner . . . people 
have given their heart, their soul--and often their lives--so that all 
Americans could vote.
  We have all come a long way. The Declaration of Independence and the 
United States Constitution first stated that all people are created 
equal, and that they are endowed with certain inalienable rights. The 
Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to our Constitution, 
the Voting Rights Act and the Civil Rights Act have ensured that all 
Americans can exercise their right to vote. Motor Voter guarantees that 
they will.
  Too many people, especially the young and the poor, are sitting on 
the sidelines. They have not registered to vote. They are not going to 
the ballot box. We must encourage all Americans to vote. We all must be 
involved. For people not to register--for people to refuse to 
participate in the political process--is dangerous to the health of our 
country.
  Despite our proud democratic history--despite the obvious success of 
Motor Voter, certain Members of this body want to repeal Motor Voter. 
They want us to take a step back in history--a step away from having a 
truly democratic society. We must not let this happen.
  Why do so many of my colleagues want to repeal Motor Voter? Why do 
they want to make it harder for people to vote? What do they fear? That 
people will vote? That people will get involved? That we will expand 
democracy?
  This is what Motor Voter does. It makes it easier for all Americans 
to participate in our democratic process. Motor Voter opens up the 
process--it makes it easier for people to come in, to participate. 
Registering to vote is as simple as renewing your driver's license.
  The more people vote--the more people become involved--the more 
government becomes responsive to the people. Each and every citizen has 
the power to hold their elected officials accountable. [[Page H5565]] 
  When people do not vote, they forfeit their power--they silence their 
own voices. They say ``I do not care.''
  How can so many Members of Congress continue to oppose Motor Voter? 
They say it is an unfunded mandate--an unfunded mandate. My Colleagues, 
if telling states to register voters is an unfunded mandate, it's a 
mandate as old as the Constitution.
  Read article I, section 4 of the Constitution. ``The times, places 
and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives shall 
be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof; but Congress 
may at any time by law make or alter such regulations.''
  My Colleagues, our Constitution is not just another unfunded mandate. 
We cannot put a price tag on political participation. We cannot put a 
price on democracy.
  Despite the opposition, despite the attempts to make it harder for 
Americans to vote, I am heartened by all that Motor Voter has 
accomplished in three short months. We must encourage people to become 
involved--to stand up and speak out--to vote. We must continue to 
support Motor Voter.
  Now, Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to yield to the gentlewoman from the 
State of Georgia, the gentlewoman from the great State of Georgia [Ms. 
McKinney].
  Ms. McKINNEY. Congressman Lewis, I just want to commend you for 
remembering the importance of motor voter to our democracy, and I 
cannot help but think about I have a 9-year-old son, and I buy books. 
The most recent book that I purchased for him was a pictorial of the 
civil rights movement. It has got all of these wonderful, glorious, and 
infamous pictures about the dogs, and the water hoses, and Bull Connor, 
and this is a legacy of this country.
  This is also a legacy of our quest for real and true democracy. You 
were there. You saw it. I can only rewalk your footsteps. I can only go 
back and see where you were 30 years ago at Edmund Pettis Bridge and 
recall in my own new way the contributions of Goodwin, Chaney and 
Schwerner, and Viola Liuzzo, and, when I go to Montgomery, I never go 
there without passing by the civil rights memorial at Morris Deze's 
Southern Poverty Law Center.
  We have some of our colleagues here who participated in that struggle 
for American democracy. Bob Filner is one who serves in Congress with 
us now who was there with the Freedom Riders fighting for a more 
perfect democracy.
  I have a question for you. You have a story that you tell about the 
man with a cattle prod in his hand, and for our viewers tonight I just 
would like for you to retell that story because this is a part of our 
history, and this is a history that we cannot forget; lest we forget, 
we will surely allow those enemies of democracy who want to restrict 
the American people's right to vote to wane. So please tell the story.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Well, let me just say to my friend and 
colleague from Georgia, I will never forget some 30 years ago in the 
little town of Selma, AL, in the heart of the black belt in Dallas 
County in 1965. Only 2.1 percent of blacks of voting age were 
registered to vote. They had to take a so-called literacy test. People 
were afraid. There were black men and women teaching in the local 
college, black doctors and lawyers, but they flunked the so-called 
literacy test. They could only go down to attempt to register on the 
first and third Mondays of each month.
  On the third Monday in January 1965, it was my day to lead a group of 
people down to the Dallas County Courthouse. To be exact, it was 
January 18, and we walked up to the steps of the courthouse, and there 
was a sheriff named Jim Clark. He wore a gun on one side, a night stick 
on the other, and he carried an electric cattle prod in his hand, and 
he did not use it on cows, he used it on people, and he said to me, 
``John Lewis, you're not some agitator. You're the lowest form of 
humanity.''
  At that time I was almost 25, and I had all of my hair. I was a few 
pounds lighter, but I looked him straight in the eye, and I said, 
``Sheriff, I may be an agitator, but I'm not an outsider. I grew up 90 
miles from here, and we're going to stay here until these people are 
allowed to register and vote.''
  And he said, ``John, you're under arrest,'' and he arrested me along 
with many other people.
  A few days later in a little town near Selma a young black man by the 
name of Jimmy Lee Jackson was leading the march for the right to vote. 
He was shot in the stomach by a state trooper, and a few days later he 
died. In the course of what happened to him we said that we were 
marching from Selma to Montgomery to dramatize to the Nation and to the 
world that people wanted the
 right to participate in the democratic process. And on March 7 we 
decided to march in twos, leaving downtown Selma, walking through the 
streets of Selma, about 525 of us, elderly men and women and a few 
young children.

  We came to the apex of the bridge. We saw a sea of blue. It was the 
Alabama State troopers. We continued to walk until we came within 
hearing distance of the State troopers, and a man identified himself 
and said, ``I'm Major John Cloud of the Alabama State troopers. I give 
you 3 minutes to disperse and go back to your church.''
  In less than 1\1/2\ minutes he said, ``Troopers, advance,'' and they 
came toward us, beating us with night sticks and bull whips, trampling 
us with horses and using tear gas.
  This became known as bloody Sunday, and because of what happened in 
Selma, President Johnson came to this hall, and spoke to a joint 
session of Congress, and introduced the Voting Rights Act, and it was 
passed, and since then I must say, my colleague, we have seen hundreds 
and thousands and millions of new registered voters because this 
Congress had the courage to pass the Voting Rights Act in 1965, and 
Motor Voter is another step down that long road toward opening up the 
political process and letting all of the people come in.
  Ms. McKINNEY. You know you said something about accountability, and 
the fact that we enlarge the voting pool also indicates that we would 
enlarge the attentive public; that is, the public that is paying 
attention to what we do with the laws that we pass and the impact that 
what we do here has on those peoples' lives. I cannot help but believe 
that there is a group of people, and I am sure they are a small group 
of people, who want to escape accountability for the things that they 
do, and therefore they introduced legislation to repeal Motor Voter, or 
they try to call it an unfunded mandate in an effort to escape the 
accountability that the American people would bring on them for the 
kinds of policies that we are seeing put into play now.

                              {time}  2015

  Also, I have to say that it has never been so easy, particularly in 
the South, in Georgia, to register people, as it is today, and that is 
because of motor voter. We have a simple little form.
  I remember in 1992, we had Jesse Jackson come down to the 11th 
district to do some voter registration for us because we knew we needed 
that. We found all kinds of voting registration barriers. And in one 
little small town, Milledgeville, I know you know Milledgeville, GA, we 
had to stage a protest march, because for some reason it was 
inconvenient for the folks down at the courthouse to register a lot of 
people in the town, who happened to be African-American and who 
happened to be students in the town.
  So we have got these impediments that have been removed. And now it 
is so easy, all people have to do is want to be registered and they can 
register. And it sure makes it a whole lot easier for those of us who 
want them to be registered.
  I think this new move on the part of this small group of people is 
perhaps, well, we know it is wrong-headed and ill-founded, but it takes 
us in the
 wrong direction. It takes us backwards, and we do not need to be going 
back. We need to be going forward. Our democracy is stronger when the 
American people feel that they have an investment in their Government. 
Right now the American people do not feel that they have an investment, 
and a lot of people sit on the sidelines at election time because it is 
so darn hard to go out there and register to vote. We, of course, as 
you know, have the purges that go on.

  Motor voter cures all of that. You can register to vote at midnight 
in your home if you want to, and that is the beautiful thing about 
motor voter.
  So I just think this move that is afoot is wrong-headed and ill-
founded, [[Page H5566]] but there are 170 cosponsors on the repeal 
bill, so it is a threat that is imminent. And that is why I am so happy 
that the gentleman is alerting the rest of us here to the importance of 
motor voter, and at the same time the American viewing public that is 
interested and is looking at C-SPAN right now, to let them know that 
motor voter is good and motor voter is not safe.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Let me agree with you that motor voter is good, 
and it is necessary to open up the political process. As you well know, 
in our own State hundreds and thousands of people have been registered 
during the past 3 months. I think in Georgia more than 3,000 people 
every single day are being registered because of motor voter.
  Ms. McKINNEY. And we do not even have all of the counties on line 
yet. Just imagine what it would be like if we had all of the counties, 
159 counties in Georgia, on line for motor voter. When that happens, 
Georgia will not be last anymore. I am so sick and tired of Georgia 
being last in most things. Georgia can become first, and it will also 
be first in democracy.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Let me just thank my colleague, the gentlewoman 
from the State of Georgia, Cynthia McKinney, for participating in this 
special order tonight. I appreciate your help and all of your support. 
I think we have a moral obligation, a mandate, and a mission as Members 
of this body to do what we can to increase the political participation 
of all of our citizens. Open the process up, let everybody come in.
  Ms. McKinney. The gentleman knows that I have long admired his work 
and his advocacy on behalf of the American people and the American 
democracy.
  Just a word about the nature of this discourse tonight: This is not 
about Democrat or Republican. This is about the American people and 
enhancing and fine-tuning our democracy. We do have, we are blessed in 
this country to have the most perfect democracy on the face of the 
Earth. Yet it can still be a whole lot better. Motor voter is but one 
tool to get us there, and I appreciate the gentleman and his strong 
leadership and advocacy. You know you have my support every step of the 
way.
  Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Thank you very much for those kind words and 
for participating in this special order tonight.
  Miss COLLINS of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, the absolute need for the 
motor-voter law is clear. Without it, millions of American voters will 
continue to be denied equal access to the franchise by a bureaucratic 
opposition that simply does not make sense. Without it, millions of 
Americans will remain voteless, and voteless people are powerless 
people.
  Like the Voting Rights Act, a thirty-year old success story itself, 
this new law has clearly begun to eclipse the barriers and the 
lingering legacy of voting booth exclusion that have had a ``chilling'' 
effect on the political participation of African-Americans and other 
ethnic minorities in this country.
  The motor-voter law is already a striking success in some states 
where discriminatory and unfair registration laws and procedures once 
prevailed. In states like Texas, Florida, and Georgia--where the 
history of voting discrimination has been most egregious--more than 
200,000 previously unregistered voters have gained new opportunities to 
register to vote, at motor vehicle departments, public assistance 
offices, mental health and disability agencies, and by mail.
  Instead of mouthing platitudes about democracy, we in this body ought 
to feel more compelled to make democracy a reality. But the truth is, 
until every American citizen has one-hundred percent, undeniable access 
to the ballot box, Democracy will be little more than an illusion. 
Democracy, it is said, is a ``collectivity'' of individuals. But there 
can be no democracy when millions of Americans remain shut out of the 
Democratic process.
  Mr. Speaker, making voting more accessible to the public is not a 
partisan issue. In fact, Mr. Gingrich himself has said that ``it is 
simply good public policy.''
  Voting is the linchpin of American Democracy. Registering to vote 
should be as convenient as applying for a library card, or filling out 
a tax return. The costs of the motor-voter law are minimal, especially 
when considering the payoff in increased citizen participation.
  Even my own home state of Michigan is now resisting this great effort 
to eliminate the final barriers to full enfranchisement, and of this I 
am ashamed. Mr. Speaker, it is a national disgrace if America is 
permitted to return to its darkest period, when millions of citizens 
were systematically denied equal access to the franchise, and 
ultimately their power to govern. It is a disgrace that this country 
simply cannot afford.
  Mr. STOKES. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my distinguished colleague, 
the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Lewis], for reserving this Special 
Order. I am pleased to join him for a discussion of the motor-voter 
law. The National Voter Registration Act was signed into law by 
President Clinton on May 20, 1993. The law requires motor vehicle 
bureaus, welfare offices and other public agencies to offer voter 
registration services. Today, we gather to mark the two year 
anniversary of this successful legislative initiative.
  The motor-voter law took effect on January 1, 1995. It is noted that 
during the months of January and February alone, more than 630,000 
citizens across the country registered to vote. Analysts predict that 
next year, as many as 20 million Americans will be added to the ranks 
of the voting population. Not since the Voting Rights Act of 1965, 
which removed obstacles that had kept many African-Americans from the 
voting booth, have so many new voters registered to vote.
  Mr. Speaker, the road to passage of national voter registration laws 
has not been an easy one. Many in this Chamber will recall that efforts 
to establish a national voter registration system followed closely on 
the heels of the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. During the 
1970's, a substantial effort was made to implement a national voter 
``postcard'' or mail registration system. Efforts also focused on the 
passage of a national voter registration standard that would have 
allowed citizens to register to vote on election day. Both measures 
failed to be enacted by both the House and Senate.
  During the 1980's, we celebrated the enactment of several voter 
registration measures. In 1984, Congress passed the Voting 
Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act. The Act established 
national requirements for making polling places more accessible to the 
elderly and the handicapped, and provided greater access to absentee 
ballots for these individuals. The Uniform and Overseas Citizens 
Absentee Voting Act required States to permit
 absentee uniformed service personnel and overseas voters to use 
absentee registration procedures, and to vote by absentee ballot in 
federal elections.

  Mr. Speaker, the goal of the National Voter Registration Act is to 
simplify voter registration, thereby encouraging citizens to 
participate in the election process. In addition to making it easier 
for individuals to register to vote, the Act also provides more than 
adequate measures to prevent voter fraud by making violations of the 
Act a federal offense. Further, the cost that states bear to implement 
the motor-voter law has proven to be minimal.
  As we celebrate the success of the motor-voter law, we must ensure 
that this important Act is not repealed. We must also ensure that all 
states are in compliance with the motor-voter law. In the United 
States, 80 percent of our nation's youth, those 18 or 19 years of age, 
apply for driver's licenses. Yet, fewer than 40 percent of this age 
population is registered to vote. We have a responsibility to make 
certain that all Americans are participants in the electoral process. 
The motor-voter law represents an important step in achieving this 
objective.
  Mr. Speaker, I am proud to join Congressman Lewis for this special 
order. He has played a major role in securing and protecting the voting 
rights of minority citizens and others. I applaud his leadership, and I 
offer my full support of his efforts.

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