Senate Proceeding on Oct 22nd, 2009 :: 6:03:35 to 6:15:10
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6:03:25 to 6:03:46( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: quorum call: a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas is recognized. a senator: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. cornyn: thank you, madam president. i would like to make a few comments about the defense authorization conference report which we will vote on presumably later this afternoon.

6:03:35 to 6:15:10( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: John Cornyn

6:03:47 to 6:04:07( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: first, i want to express my appreciation to the conferees for fighting legislation we passed out of the senate but which was not included in the house version of this bill. this legislation is contained in sections 575-589 of the conference report, and it's called "the military and overseas voter empowerment act"

6:04:08 to 6:04:29( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: or the move act madam president, it addresses a national disgrace. our military service members, we know, put their lives on the line for us every day to protect our rights and freedoms, yet too many of them who were deployed overseas face many stumbling blocks and hurdles as they attempt to cast their votes and

6:04:30 to 6:04:51( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: participate in our national elections. in 2008, more than a quarter of the ballots requested by uniformed and overseas voters went either uncollected or uncounted. a quarter of the ballots. according to a recent survey of seven states with high military populations. another recent study by the

6:04:52 to 6:05:12( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: heritage foundation documented the problem during election cycle. they looked at 20 states with large military populations and concluded that as many as three quarters of our troops and their family members were disenfranchised by their inability to request an absentee

6:05:13 to 6:05:33( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: ballot and of the ballots that were requested never reached the appropriate election officials to be counted on a timely basis. voting has remained a challenge for our troops and their families for many reasons. one is our election laws are varied from state to state and they are very complex.

6:05:34 to 6:05:55( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: we also know tt mtiple levels of government bureaucracy are involved, from the local level to the state lev to the federal level. we know that election challenges and other unforeseen events can delay the finalization of ballots. and we know that with the high tempo of military operations, frequent deployments for our troops and their families make

6:05:56 to 6:06:17( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: it hard for them to exercise their most fundamental civil right, which is the right to vote. what this legislation does, the move act does, is address several of the biggest road blocks our troops and their families face when attempting to vote. first, the move act reduces reliance on snail mail or

6:06:18 to 6:06:39( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: correspondence between election officials and our troops. under current election laws, many troops must first request -- or mail a request for an absentee ballot. then they have to wait for the election official to mail them the blank ballot. then they must mail the completed ballot in time to be counted. this legislation requires

6:06:40 to 6:07:01( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: election officials to create electronic blank ballots and to post them online, to cut down on some of these ste. election officials must allow the use of faxes and emails to expedite correspondence with our troops. together these reforms will reduce dependence on snail mail until the service member is

6:07:02 to 6:07:23( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: ready to return the completed ballot to be counted. second, the move act will expedite the return of the completed ballot to election officials. under current law, each service member is responsible for making sure that his o her ballot is postmarked and returned on time. our legislation, this bipartisan

6:07:24 to 6:07:45( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: legislation, requires the department of defense now to take possession of completed ballots and ensure that they get to election officials on a timely basis by using express mail, if necessary. this legislation will also require election officials to give our troops at least, at least 45 days in which to return

6:07:46 to 6:08:06( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: they're ballots. the move act contains many commonsense reforms that were suggested by other senators and which will help end the effective disenfranchisement of our troops and their family members. however, one key provision of the bill we passed out of the senate was mified in conference, and i believe all

6:08:07 to 6:08:27( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: senators should understand why and how that happened. the provision i'm referring to, madam president, was in the bill i introduced called the military voters equal access to registration act. it, too, became part of the move

6:08:28 to 6:08:48( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: act and was amended in the defense authorization bill as it passed out of the senate. this legislation was designed to provide basic voting assistance services to every service member and family member upon transfer to a new military installation, as well as at other significant transition points in their

6:08:49 to 6:09:09( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: military careers. as part of the in processing at each base, every service member was to be offered an opportunity to fill out a simple form that would, first, register the service member or that family member to vote. it w existing registrations, and it would request ballots for the

6:09:10 to 6:09:30( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: next federal election cycle. the department of defense would have then been responsible for forwarding the completed forms to the appropriate election officials. this kind of voting assistance may sound familiar because it's nearly identical to the motor voter provisions contained in the national voter registration act.

6:09:31 to 6:09:53( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: the logic here is that military installations can and should offer the same kind of voting assistance that their local department of motor vehicles would offer to tm if they lived at home here stateside. this legislation makes practical sense because many of our troops and their families are transferred quickly and without much notice, and it is difficult for them to keep changing the

6:09:54 to 6:10:16( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: address tha have on file. during the conference process when we were working with our counterparts in the house of representatives, this legislation was watered down, unfounately, and was made optional for the department of dense to offer voting assistance to our troops and their families.

6:10:17 to 6:10:37( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: i have to say i was disappointed at this action because when our troops are given orders to deploy elsewhere, obviously, those orders are not optional, and neither should the requirement of the department of defense when it comes to helping make sure that our deployed troops' votes actually count. so it should not be optional for the department of defense to offer these services to the

6:10:38 to 6:10:58( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: troops and their families when they their new post. i'm particularly concerned, madam president, that this legislation was weakened at the specific request of the department of defense. furthermore, the department's objection was based on a misreading of the national voter

6:10:59 to 6:11:19( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: registration act. in fact, at our request, the department of defense's objections were reviewed by subject matter experts at the department of justice. these experts at the department of justice agreed with us on the clear meaning of the law. and that the department of

6:11:20 to 6:11:41( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: defense had made an error in misinterpreting the senate bill. unfortunately by then, the damage was done and house conferees deferred to the department of defense's interpretation of this legislation and made it optional at their request. madam president, i don't think the senate should be content to kick a field goal when we could

6:11:42 to 6:12:03( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: have scored a touchdown for the men and women of our united states military, and we will. first i expect the department of defense to implement this optional program at every applicable military install installation. i will request regular updates from the department on its implementation as well as any explanation or delays.

6:12:04 to 6:12:24( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: we will not let up until we make sure that this is complied with. secondly, i expect the department of defense to correct the official record and to make clear to the members of the house and the senate who were conferees that its objection to this legislation was based on an erroneous interpretation of the law. third, i intend to offer

6:12:25 to 6:12:45( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: amendments to other legislative vehicles to correct this watering down of this important provision. the language passed out of this chamber unanimously, and i will continue to make sure it becomes ultimately the law of the land. now, madam president, the provisions of the move act that did make it through conference,

6:12:46 to 6:13:06( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: i do believe, represent a clear win for our troops and their families. many of my colleagues were instrumental in making this happen, and i thank all of them. again, this was a bipartisan effort. however, my colleagues in the -- in the conference also have included language in the defense

6:13:07 to 6:13:27( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: authorization which clearly does not belong in this bill and which i do not support. i refer, of course, to the language addressing so-called hate crimes in the conference report. madam president, i in a previous life was a judge for 13 years and attorney general of my state after that. i believe very firmly in the

6:13:28 to 6:13:48( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: concept of equal justice under the law and crime should not be treated differently based on the victim of that crime. i have had the privilege of working with many victims of crime and their families, and i share their determination that those who commit crimes should

6:13:49 to 6:14:09( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: be delivered swift justice and be held accountable, but a fair justice system committed to equal justice under the law does not distinguish between crimes based on race, gender, or whatever the category that is included in a particular list, a fair justice system committed to

6:14:10 to 6:14:30( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: equal justice under the law does not criminalize thoughts or perceptions. it criminalizes behavior. and in this country, a fair justice system committed to equal justice under the law is based on federalism, one which respects that state and local law enforcement and prosecutors

6:14:31 to 6:14:51( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: are doing their job fairly and responsibly, expanding hate crime legislation should not be part of this conference report. notwithstanding this flaw in the bill, i will vote for the conference report but with this crimes provision doesn't belong in the bill and i believe

6:14:52 to 6:15:09( Edit History Discussion )

John Cornyn: violates our national to equal justice madam president, i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a the presiding officer: th clerk will call the roll.