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Urging Attorney General Eric Holder to uphold the law, U.S. Rep.Tom Rooney is demanding that the Department of Justice stop itsefforts to block the state of Florida from verifying theeligibility of registered voters. The Department of Justice under President Obama has become sopoliticized that it consistently puts aiding the president sre-election campaign ahead of upholding justice and enforcing therule of law," the Tequesta Republican wrote in a strong letter ofprotest and call to action to Holder this week. Joining a growing chorus of Holder critics -- who have also slammedthe AG over the Operation Fast and Furious gun-walking fiasco --Rooney said, The attorney general is now actively working toenable voter fraud and allow illegal immigrants to cast votes inthe state of Florida -- this is a new low, even for thisadministration. Following is the full text of Rooney's letter: Dear Attorney General Holder: Florida has uncovered a widespread problem of illegal and erroneousvoter registration, exposing as many as 182,000 registered votersas non-U.S. citizens. The Department of Justice has anobligation to work with the state to prevent voter fraud and ensurethat illegal votes are not cast, yet your department hasconsistently obstructed Florida s efforts and has been eitherunresponsive or outright hostile to legitimate requests forinformation. Your department has now directed the state of Florida to stopremoving noncitizen voters from registration rolls. This directionis not only groundless, it stands in stark contrast to federal lawsdirecting states to coordinate voter registration records andensure their accuracy. Your actions further demonstrate that theDepartment of Justice, under your leadership, is more concernedwith protecting the re-election prospects of the president thanwith upholding justice and enforcing the rule of law. The Help America Vote Act of 2002 explicitly directs states toensure that voter registration records are accurate by coordinatingthem with other databases within the state. Florida hascomplied with that law by checking registration records againstdriver s license records. Your department now claims that thisprocedure required pre-approval under Section 5 of the VotingRights Act. That claim is simply untrue. Section 5 applies to only five counties in Florida, not the entirestate, and it only requires those counties to get pre-approval fromthe Justice Department or a federal court before making changes tovoting procedures or rules. Florida has always, in accordance withfederal law, used state databases to confirm citizenshipinformation, so this does not constitute a change that wouldrequire pre-approval. Even if Section 5 did apply, it would notapply to the entire state, so DOJ cannot stop these effortsstatewide. Furthermore, House bill 1355, which was pre-approved bythe Justice Department, allows the secretary of state to usesources like DMV records to remove registrants who are not U.S.citizens. Your department also alleges that the removal violates Section 8 ofthe National Voter Registration Act, which prohibits the removal ofnames from voter registration rolls within 90 days of anelection. This claim is also false. Section 8 applies topreviously eligible voters who have become ineligible for certainreasons, like moving out of state. It does not apply to voters whohave become ineligible through death, criminal conviction, ormental capacity. Section 8 does not apply to voters who wereineligible at the time they registered, which is a felony,including noncitizens. Even if Section 8 did apply, Florida is in the position of purgingthe voter rolls at this time only because the Obama administrationviolated federal law by refusing Florida s request to compareregistration records with the Department of Homeland Security srecords on noncitizens. If not for the Obama administration sstonewalling, this necessary purge of illegal voters would havebeen completed nine months ago, when the state requested thisinformation. While your department should be working with Florida to stop voterfraud, you are instead actively working to keep noncitizens whohave committed a felony on our state s voter rolls. It is timefor you to end your blatant politicization of your position asattorney general and the Department of Justice as awhole. Please direct the Voting Section of the Department to endits baseless efforts to stop Florida from removing illegal,noncitizen voters from its registration rolls, and please directyour Department to uphold its obligation to prosecute those whohave committed a felony by registering to vote illegally. Sincerely, Thomas J. Rooney Member of Congress. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Ice Cooler Bags , China Bubble Mailing Bags, and more. For more , please visit Plastic Handle Bags today!
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