Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 4844 because of the dangerous impact it would have on voter participation in the United States.  When I was Secretary of State, I led an effort to reform our elections.  We replaced our outdated voting equipment, made polling places accessible, and significantly reduced error rates.  My job was to make voting open and accessible to eligible citizens, and to encourage people to participate in the process.  From that experience, I know that this legislation would do practically nothing to reduce fraud while creating new barriers for Americans to vote.

Should H.R. 4844 become law, fewer eligible citizens will be able to vote because they lack proper identification or documentation.  Maybe it is an elderly woman who leaves her home of fifty years to enter an assisted living facility.  It could be a resident of New Orleans whose public records were lost in Hurricane Katrina.  The list could go on and on.  However, these people have one thing in common.  Once they are turned away from voting, it is unlikely they will return.  They may not return that day because of a lack of time or transportation.  Or they may not return in future elections because of the hassle they experienced.  New obstacles to voting will cause many to drop out of the nation’s election system because it failed them.

Not only would the bill make it harder for nearly every American to vote, but it would also add massive new compliance requirements for election officials.  It also unnecessarily duplicates current law, which requires that voters in federal elections be U.S. citizens.  Fraudulent voter registration is a felony punishable by five years in prison.  Furthermore, the bill does not address other, more prevalent forms of voter fraud and additional problems that we have witnessed in recent elections. 

Congress has a proud record of removing barriers and increasing the opportunity of all Americans to vote.  It guaranteed the right to vote to citizens whose only disqualification was the color of their skin.  It opened polling places to the disabled.  It extended the franchise to Americans living overseas.  It did all this on a bipartisan basis and while maintaining the integrity of our elections.  H.R. 4844 is a step away from that proud tradition because it would erect new barriers for eligible citizens and disenfranchise many Americans.  I urge my colleagues to vote against H.R. 4844 so that we may preserve our most precious right, the right to vote.