Speech #1090137314

This is an extraordinarily important amendment. It deserves the full consideration of this body because. as has been pointed out. it reaches the essence of our democracy. which is the right to vote. If we are going to take action on an immigration bill that is going to have an impact on 120 million Americans in the 2008 Presidential campaign. we should not be doing that in the 50 minutes before a cloture vote on the immigration bill. I have pointed to recent courts of appeals decisions on measures that are virtually identical to this where they have struck it down because they believed that it was going to effectively discriminate against large groups of Americans. primarily the poor. the disabled. and the elderly. The court of appeals made that judgment in the Georgia ID case. not those on this side of the aisle. It was the courts decision. It seems to me. having so clear a judicial determination on this measure and such a wide separation between what this measure is and what was recommended by the CarterBaker commission. it is not wise for the Senate to adopt what would be a major rewriting of our national election laws in the 50 minutes prior to a cloture vote on an immigration bill. It is unwise for the Senate. If we are not successful in defeating it. this potentially could have a most dramatic adverse impact in terms of American voting in the next national election.