Recognizing and supporting all efforts to promote greater civic awareness among the people of the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to concur with the chairman of our distinguished committee, and thank the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross) and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall) for bringing forth this most important piece of legislation, and from the bottom of my heart I want to thank especially those members who worked tirelessly for us in the Clerk's office and recognize Mr. Trandahl and Gigi Kelaher and the distinguished Mr. Paul Hayes and so many members who come here day in and day out and carry on these duties, considering the lateness of the hour.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of a resolution that aims to support the very core of our democracy: voting. The resolution, H. Res. 796, recognizes efforts to promote greater civic awareness in this country.

With this in mind, it is important to reference the words that embody our democratic right that are written in the Constitution. This document establishes that ``citizens of the United

States shall not be denied or abridged their right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude; on account of sex; by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax; and on account of age for those 18 years of age and older.''

This election is arguably one of the most important in our Nation's history. It is too important to sit on the sidelines. I call on all citizens to participate in our democracy by casting a ballot on November second. I would also urge citizens to think about other ways they can use their civic spirit to assist their communities. For example, maybe they could volunteer to drive other voters to the polls or donate their time to assist at local polling places. The friendly, dedicated individuals that help us as we head to the polling booth are often taken for granted. However, the pool of these volunteers has been severely reduced over the years. This year, millions of poll workers are needed on Election Day.

These volunteers are the backbone of the election process, sometimes working up to 16-hour days with little, if any pay. In most cases, volunteers are needed for such long hours simply because there are not enough of them. In addition, the majority of those who do volunteer to be poll workers continue to be older citizens. We need to inspire a younger generation of poll workers to continue to carry the torch of democracy.

I call on colleges and universities to offer college credit to students who serve as poll workers, and corporations to offer paid leave to employees who volunteer as poll workers. Voters should go to the Election Assistance Commission's Web site at www.eac.gov, to learn how they can become poll workers in their state.

Yesterday, I sent a letter to 43 presidents of public and private higher education institutions in my home state of Connecticut. I reminded these academic leaders that the Higher Education Act Amendments of 1998 require that they make a good-faith effort to distribute voter-registration materials to their students prior to elections. I urged them to review their compliance with this federal law.

For many students, the first time they have the opportunity to vote is during their college career. Therefore, it is imperative that institutions of higher learning do all they can to help young people get into the habit of voting while they are young.

States can do their part by offering better training to poll workers. Many of the problems associated with this year's primaries have been attributed to poor poll worker training. I hope we do not see a repeat of these mistakes during the general election.

Several newspapers have reported that there are a record number of new voters registered for this coming election. I urge election officials to be mindful of these first-time voters so they will have the opportunity to participate in the election process without a repeat of past frustrations, or misinterpretation of voting laws, including the Help America Vote Act.

I am extremely concerned about voter intimidation, and I ask all citizens to be mindful of voters who may be denied their right to vote at the polls. Should an eligible voter be afraid to cast a ballot, I urge them to call the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division or civil rights groups to ensure these circumstances are documented.

These concerns are not unwarranted. In South Dakota's June 2004 special election, Native American voters were prevented from voting after they were challenged to provide photo IDs, which they were not required to present under State or Federal law. In 2003 in Philadelphia, voters in African-American areas were systematically challenged by men carrying clipboards, driving a fleet of some 300 sedans with magnetic signs designed to look like law enforcement insignia. These are just two examples in a report by the NAACP and the People for the American Way Foundation.

Our Nation has certainly tried to respect the democratic wishes of the framers of our Constitution through ongoing efforts to ensure that all citizens are inspired to vote. Voting is a powerful act. The simple act of pulling a lever, or checking a box or touching a screen indicates to policy makers that the voices of those they represent must not be ignored. It also gives citizens an instant sense of community, and that alone is certainly worth recognizing and supporting.

I urge my colleagues to support this resolution and to continue to expand voter participation.

[From the San Jose Mercury News, Oct. 5, 2004]

Poll Watchers To Ensure Every Vote Counts

(By L.A. Chung)

Nancy Frishberg remembers helping her father register

people to vote when Adlai Stevenson mounted his second doomed

campaign against Dwight D. Eisenhower. She was ``clean for

Gene'' in 1968, before Hubert Humphrey beat Eugene McCarthy

for the Democratic nomination.

In other words, the Redwood City woman is familiar with

being on the losing side of presidential campaigns. Even so,

her belief in the democratic process was undiminished until

she heard the infamous reports about voter disenfranchisement

in 2000 and problems during the primaries this year.

So Frishberg, 55, has decided to become a poll monitor Nov.

2. She and about 19,000 others have signed up with the

Election Protection Coalition, a nonpartisan group, to fan

out across the country to watch for problems at the polls.

``I'm trained as a scientist and in observational

research,'' said Frishberg, a linguist and contributor to

Stanford's Human-Computer Interface program. ``The difference

here is I'm willing to intervene.'' That means alerting the

coalition's network of lawyers, who will file injunctions if

there are violations. She's spending her own money to fly to

Phoenix, one of the cities where past problems at the polls

have been identified. Her commitment comes, she says, from

her intensely non-partisan desire that every vote counts.

Bigger than expected ``We've been stunned by the amount of

energy we're seeing,'' said Michael Kieschnick, president of

Working Assets, a socially progressive company that is

recruiting volunteers for the coalition. The country may be

highly polarized, but the coalition has been attracting

people who are primarily concerned about the integrity of the

election.

``It's not who won or lost in Florida,'' Kieschnick said,

referring to the state that has come to symbolize problems at

the polls. Rather, ``for the first time, people realized not

all the votes get counted--and which ones get counted

sometimes depends on elected officials. People looked in the

mirror of Florida and didn't seem to like that.''

Working Assets, a long-distance and credit card services

company, has worked hard to promote voter registration,

Kieschnick said. But more new voters means more potential

problems--from learning where to vote to figuring out how to

work the various voting machines. Plus, there were troubling

reports of election officials who seemed ready to make it

harder for new voters.

The secretary of state in Ohio, for example, just retreated

from his directive last month that voter registration forms

must be printed on 80-pound paper stock, potentially

disenfranchising those who had filled out forms on lighter

paper. He also faces a lawsuit challenging state guidelines

that would prevent voters from casting provisional ballots if

they mistakenly went to the wrong polling places.

Keeping the trust in fact, election experts predict a huge

number of provisional ballots, which could determine a close

race.

We're not at the point where we want overseas election

monitors to come. That's something Jimmy Carter and Sen.

Richard Lugar have done from the Phillipines to South Africa.

Still, the outpouring of volunteers for the Election

Protection Coalition is important and useful. At least 35

cities in nine states --Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Illinois,

Michigan, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin--will

be monitored. In each place there was some kind of trigger--

past voting rights violations, accusations of voter

intimidation or problems with people going to the polls and

finding their names don't appear.

``In no case are we predicting there will be a problem,''

Kieschnick said. ``In all these cases there is some reason to

believe the odds are higher that there could be problems.''

I'm just hoping that Frishberg and other volunteers are

surprised at what they find in the field. Pleasantly

surprised.

That would be the bigger victory for democracy in these

times.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 796) recognizing and supporting all efforts to promote greater civic awareness among the people of the United States.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank again our ranking member, the gentleman from Connecticut, for this important measure.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of House Resolution 796, which recognizes and supports all efforts to promote greater civic awareness among the people of the United States.

Mr. Speaker, today our soldiers are fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq to build and protect democracy. This Saturday, Afghanistan will hold a historic election. Reports indicate that more than 10 million Afghans have registered to vote and will participate in the election--despite threats and violence by the opponents of democracy. Iraq is scheduled to hold elections in January, an event that will forever alter the direction of that country and, hopefully, forever separate it from its despotic past.

While we fight abroad to build democracy, unfortunately, here at home, too many of our citizens take our rights for granted and fail to exercise them. Mr. Speaker, no matter what side of the aisle you sit on, we all agree that the election coming up on November 2 will be an extremely important one--one that all eligible citizens should participate in. This resolution encourages that participation because the right to elect our leaders should be exercised and never taken for granted.

When terrorists attacked us three years ago on September 11th, they were attacking not only innocent civilians, but also the very ideals and freedoms that we celebrate as fundamental human rights in this country. Those rights and freedoms are what the terrorists fear and hate most.

Now, more than ever before, it is imperative that every American participate by exercising the precious gift each citizen has been given, the freedom to choose our leaders.

Recently, the House of Representatives passed a resolution expressing the sense of Congress that the actions of terrorists will never cause the delay of any national election.

We need our citizens to mirror that same resolve and show terrorists that we cherish our democracy and will not be deterred from exercising the rights we have.

There have been a number of reports about how voter registrations have increased dramatically in the past year. State and local elections officials are working hard to process those registrations and make sure that all eligible voters are able to cast a vote on Election Day. I would encourage our citizens to do what they can to help this election run smoothly. Confirm that you are properly registered and find out where your polling place is. This can be done by contacting your local board of elections office, or, in many cases, just visiting their Web site. Doing these things in advance, instead of waiting until Election Day, can protect your right to vote and will make things go much smoother for everyone on Election Day.

While voters need to do their part, we should note that over a million, perhaps as many as 2 million, people will volunteer to serve as poll workers this year. Without them, we simply could not have elections in this country. We should recognize that our democracy survives only through the hard work and participation of millions of our citizens--both as voters and poll workers. I encourage others to volunteer to help at the polls as a poll worker or assistant.

I sincerely hope that every citizen of this great Nation will participate in the 2004 election, and will also do what they can to see that it goes smoothly. Whether it be through early voting, absentee ballots, or visiting the polls on election day, it is our great privilege to live in a country where we have the right to choose our leaders, and it is our responsibility to exercise this right. I thank the gentleman from Texas for introducing this resolution and encourage my colleagues to support it.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to again thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hall) and the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Ross) for their introduction and support of this resolution.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the majority leader, Mr. DeLay, and Chairman Bob Ney for bringing this timely resolution, H. Res. 796, to the floor today. I also want to thank the cosponsors for their interest in this bipartisan bill.

H. Res. 796 recognizes and supports efforts to promote greater civic awareness among the people of the United States. The resolution recognizes those organizations and groups that actively promote voter registration and participation, as well as those communities and schools that have instituted civic awareness programs.

The resolution also encourages local communities and elected officials at all levels of government to promote greater civic awareness among the electorate and greater participation in the upcoming elections.

The Constitution of the United States establishes a representative form of government, and throughout our Nation's history, many groups of people have fought, protested, rallied, and died for the right to vote. The 15th, 19th, 24th, and 26th amendments to the Constitution represent some of those hard-won voting privileges.

The percentage of Americans registered to vote unfortunately has declined in the last 10 years. There is no better time to make citizens more aware of the importance of exercising their right--and their responsibility--to vote. Voting is fundamental to our representative form of government--and as Members of Congress we must support and promote civic awareness and participation.

Our democracy is a government of all the people, by all the people, and for all the people. All those eligible to vote have an equal voice in determining the future of our great Nation. H. Res. 796 promotes greater awareness of one of the greatest privileges we have as American citizens--the right to vote--and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join in supporting this timely measure.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution to promote greater civic awareness among all people of the United States. This issue is particularly important at a time when voter participation has been decreasing. The Census Bureau found that only 46% of eligible voters participated in the 2002 elections.

This is not acceptable. Full participation in the electoral process by all Americans is truly a bipartisan concern. We are a society that values democracy. One of the most basic of all rights in a free and democratic society is the right to participate. Exercising the right to vote makes us productive members of society and contributes to the substance of our laws and character. The fact of the matter is clear; the right to vote is the most basic constitutional act of citizenship.

As a society, we must take steps to raise civic awareness and to develop strategies to promote civic responsibility. Too many people have shed blood and died for us to have this right. While promoting civic awareness, we must also ensure that there are no barriers to the process. In 2000, a number of people went to the polls, but their votes were not counted due to faulty equipment and human error. This must never happen in the world's greatest democracy.

Again, I rise in support of this legislation because it represents progress in addressing voter complacency.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days within which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on H. Res. 796.