Transportation, Treasury, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2005

TRANSPORTATION, TREASURY, AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS ACT, 2005 -- (House of Representatives - September 22, 2004)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 770 and rule XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union for the further consideration of the bill, H.R. 5025.

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Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Chairman, I want to call attention to the important work of the United States Election Assistance Commission and issue my strong support for the $15 million in funding that the Committee on Appropriations has recommended for this year.

Establishing the EAC was delayed in 2003, and because of that, the full commissioners were not appointed until December 2003, and the EAC was woefully underfunded for fiscal 2004.

Yet despite these obstacles, the four commissioners have worked diligently to ensure timely progress on the election reform that Congress envisioned when it passed HAVA 2 years ago. The EAC commissioners have used their collective commitment, skills, and dedication to disburse to States the $2.3 billion in HAVA payments that was appropriated for fiscal year 2004. At the same time, EAC is working closely with State and local election administrators to make certain they implement HAVA requirements for Provisional Voting, Voter Identification, Polling Place Signage, and State Administrative Complaint Procedures that must be in place for this year's elections.

Mr. Chairman, these are not abstract provisions. Rather, they are voter reform measures mandated by Congress to ensure that every eligible citizen can register, vote, and know that their vote can be counted in a timely and fair manner. We are just weeks away from the November 2 elections, which will be the first Federal election since HAVA was enacted.

Free and fair elections are the heart of our democracy. We do not want to repeat what happened in November, 2000. Yet we jeopardize the quality of our elections if we shortchange the EAC's ability to operate, conduct research, set standards for voting systems, and conduct audits of the HAVA funding that is being paid to States.

H.R. 5025 provides $15 million for the United States Election Assistance Commission. Without this funding, we cannot guarantee full implementation of this landmark act, the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

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