Bid to End Election Probe Fails

Democratic leaders on Thursday made their first official demand that the investigation into last fall’s contested election in California’s 46th Congressional District be dismissed, but the Republican-controlled House defeated the motion on a near-party-line vote.

Having lost the first-ever vote regarding the probe, the Democrats announced plans for a national “Loretta Day” on Wednesday, named for Rep. Loretta Sanchez, the Garden Grove Democrat whose 984-vote victory over longtime incumbent Republican Robert K. Dornan is being challenged. The day is to feature targeted protests in 42 districts currently represented by Republicans--nearly half in California--that have at least 10% Latino voting-age populations.

The Democrats also renewed previous vows to derail House business with a barrage of parliamentary shenanigans.

The rejection of the demand for ending the election probe by a House committee came after a dramatic hourlong debate punctuated by catcalls, cheers and a lengthy standing ovation for Sanchez by her party colleagues after she finished her first comments on the matter in the House chamber.

“The time has come to let this go. The time has come to do the right thing,” boomed Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.), who invoked his special privilege as the ranking Democrat to bring the matter to the floor Thursday.

“When will we make a decision? Will we make a decision after the next election?” asked Rep. Sam Gejdenson (D-Conn.), who sits on the House Oversight Committee that is conducting the investigation. “We have to end this now. It brings disgrace to this House.”

But while Democrats whistled and cheered, pleaded and shouted, Republicans stoically ticked off the history of the investigation since Dornan challenged the results--largely because of allegations that large numbers of votes were cast by noncitizens. The Republicans argued that they need more time, noting that witnesses have failed to respond to subpoenas and complaining that combing through thousands of INS records to determine the citizenship status of Orange County voters is a painstaking process.

“Is it taking too long? It’s certainly taking longer than I would like,” acknowledged Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-Mich.), chair of the committee task force focusing on the election. “But there’s just a great deal of work to be done.”

The motion, which called on the oversight committee to make a final recommendation on the case by Oct. 29 or drop it, lost by a vote of 204-222, with Sanchez abstaining. Rep. James Traficant (D-Ohio) joined the Republicans in opposing the measure, while Rep. Michael Forbes (R-N.Y.), defected to the Democrats.

Democrats expected the defeat, but were surprised to get even the hourlong debate; Republicans could have immediately voted to table the motion.

Thursday’s developments were triggered by a Republican proposal the previous day to ask California Secretary of State Bill Jones and local Immigration and Naturalization Service officials to review a list of suspected illegal voters the committee has prepared and make the final judgment on how many votes in the election should be declared invalid. Ehlers and Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Bakersfield), the head of the oversight panel, argued that Jones and the INS should help because they are experts who deal daily with questions of citizenship and voter eligibility.

Democrats countered that the committee was shirking its constitutional responsibility to determine the validity of elections of its members by trying to hand a political hot potato over to Jones.

Though Democrats rejected the proposal, Republicans may still follow through with it. That issue will likely be decided at a meeting of the task force scheduled for today.

On the floor Thursday afternoon and in a press conference earlier in the day, Gephardt and others argued that the only way to accurately assess whether voters are citizens would be to go door to door searching for birth certificates and naturalization papers--a process denounced for violating privacy rights and taking far too long.

Rep. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), an outspoken supporter of Sanchez, warned his colleagues that “millions of Hispanic Americans” were watching the debate and that Republicans would suffer the backlash at the ballot box next year.

“Either put up or shut up,” he declared on the floor. “Show us the proof or end this charade.”

In one of the more dramatic moments of the discussion, Thomas commented on Menendez’s “machismo,” then quickly apologized, saying that as a Southwest native, he had used the term to mean emotion or passion.

With Democratic members sporting orange “Free Loretta” ribbons on their lapels and complaining that Sanchez has been unfairly targeted, Republicans attempted to depersonalize the issue.

“It’s not about Congresswoman Sanchez,” argued Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas). “It’s not about former Congressman Dornan. It’s not about your party and it’s not about my party. It’s not about race and it’s not about sex.

“It’s about whether this body has the discipline to do its duty thoroughly and completely, down to the last detail, before they come to judgment about who does have the legitimate, legal right to represent 500,000 people.”