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 mem-
bers 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 elec-
tion have been rejected in the State of Florida as part
of a partisan campaign to overturn the results of the
election;
•HCON 444 IH
Whereas these targeted efforts to nullify the votes of absent
military personnel and their dependents are a partisan ef-
fort 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 re-
sults 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 responsi-
bility 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 Vot-
ing Act recognizes these concerns by requiring States to
accept a Federal write-in ballot submitted by absent over-
seas voters, and the laws of all States and other jurisdic-
tions which conduct Federal elections recognize the rights
of members of the uniformed services and their depend-
ents 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 de-
ployments; and
Whereas the failure to defend these critical rights will only
exacerbate the serious problems of the military in retain-
ing and recruiting qualified personnel: Now, therefore, be
it
•HCON 444 IH
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 inves-
tigate all allegations of abuses against the voting
rights of members of the uniformed services and
their dependents which have occurred or are occur-
ring in the State of Florida; and
(3) the failure of the Attorney General to take
action in these matters would violate the funda-
mental principles on which our American democracy
is founded.
Æ