THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

                     STATEMENT OF THE VICE PRESIDENT 
           ON DEFEAT OF THE VOTER ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION ACT 

I applaud all Members of the House whose votes led to the defeat of the dangerous, Republican-sponsored Voter Eligibility Verification Act -- a bill that would have compromised one of our most cherished Constitutional rights, by restricting voter registration and participation. This bill would have hit minority voters the hardest, and would have effectively rolled back decades of hard-won civil rights laws.

The cumbersome and unworkable bureaucracies at the heart of this bill are just the latest version of the poll taxes, literacy requirements, and other arbitrary obstacles to full and equal participation that America has had the courage to eliminate. It is a telling irony that, on the very day the Republicans' wrong-headed drive to invalidate the election of Rep. Loretta Sanchez comes to an end, they have found a new way to try to shut the doors of inclusion -- at a time when we must open them even wider.

I am proud that Democrats were so united against this shameful bill; its defeat is a victory for all Americans.