I appreciate the bravery shown by Barbara Boxer and Stephanie Tubb Jones in standing before Congress and insisting that this time, in this election, we will take a look at voter suppression in America. The insults to our voting system in Ohio, which Representative Conyers has documented, need to be rectified. The partisan treatment of elections in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 need to be remedied. Voting is a public trust and these Congresswomen have stood up for it integrity.

Republican leadership has stood in the way of meaningful election reform for years -- especially for having a paper audit trail on electronic voting machines. Yesterday I saw their ad hominem attacks instead of their consideration of the issues before them. I would like to see Republican representatives stand up and be counted for voting rights the way Democrats were.

But we won't see that because whereas Democrats want to count every vote, Republicans want to suppress votes and look for fraud. They have a win at any cost mentality. Bob Herbert said today that they have Iokiyar -- It's okay if you're a Republican.