{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://cooper.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/cooper-community-leaders-highlight-new-report-on-tennessee-voter-id-law", "Cooper, Community Leaders Highlight New Report on Tennessee Voter ID Law", "2014-10-23", "2014", "2014-10", "Democrat", "House", "TN", "Jim Cooper", "C000754", "cooper.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "NASHVILLE\u2014U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05) and several community leaders on Wednesday, October 15, discussed a new government report that focuses attention on voter ID laws in Tennessee.\nThe report, newly issued by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), concluded that voter ID laws caused Tennessee turnout to drop 2.2 percentage points from 2008 to 2012.\nThat translates to 88,000 lost votes, according to an estimate by The Washington Post. \nYoung people, African Americans and newly registered voters \u201cwere the groups that were more likely to see bigger drops in turnout,\u201d the Post wrote.\n\u201cExpanding voting rights has always been on the right side of history, while efforts to deny those rights embarrass the children and grandchildren of the opposition,\u201d Cooper said at a Wednesday morning press conference. \u201cWhatever you do, make sure you vote. Don\u2019t let bad laws keep you from making your voice heard.\u201d\nAlso at the press conference, Cooper suggested several ways to boost turnout and depoliticize the voting process. He said the state should ensure that all high schools \u2013 public and private \u2013 hold yearly voter registration drives. Such drives already are required by state law.\nCooper also implored the Legislature to change the law to allow college students to use their state-issued IDs to vote; he closed by asking Secretary of State Tre Hargett to remove his name from Tennessee\u2019s traditional \u201cI Voted\u201d stickers. The voting stickers were changed this month, removing the American flag.\nOther community leaders who spoke Wednesday morning:\n Debby Gould, League of Women Voters\n\tPatricia Stokes, Urban League of Middle Tennessee\n\tMatt Mullen, Tennessee Citizen Action\n\tHedy Weinberg, American Civil Liberties Union\n\tNicholas Alexiou, American Constitution Society\n\tDoug Johnston, Barrett Johnston Martin & Garrison, LLC\n\tJeff Teague, Planned Parenthood\n\tRev. Dr. Judy Cummings, Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship\n The nonpartisan report has resulted in national press, including the lead editorial in Monday\u2019s New York Times and a comprehensive piece in The Washington Post.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://cooper.house.gov//media-center/press-releases/cooper-community-leaders-highlight-new-report-on-tennessee-voter-id-law"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0464058723300695, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}