Monday, at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, General Wes Clark decried the state of voting rights in America, noting that too many Americans, particularly African-Americans and other minorities, have been denied the right to vote.

The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was the site of the 1963 bombing that claimed the lives of four young girls and helped to galvanize the civil rights movement

On a stop on his "True Grits" Tour through southern states, Clark called on Congress to fully fund election reform legislation and demanded that states fully implement it. He also called on states to impose stiff penalties on election officials who turn away registered voters or purge them from the rolls.

"In the year 2003, as far as we've come, we are far from the fundamental ideal of 'one person, one vote.' Today, it's only one person, one vote if you live in the right county. And if you vote at the right machine. And if your name happens to be on the rolls," said Clark. "Well, last I checked, there was no 'if' in the 15th Amendment. One person one vote isn't just a slogan -- it's the highest law of this land. As president, I will not rest until every single American can cast their vote, and every single one of those votes is counted. We shouldn't have to wait for another Florida to fully fund election reform."

Clark will take three steps to ensure that every vote counts in the 2004 general election next November:

Identify and bring attention to "hot spots" where there are recurrent voting problems, especially places where African-Americans and other minorities were illegally turned away from the polls on Election Day 2000.

Train campaign volunteers across the nation who will ensure that voters are registered, can get to the polls, and are allowed to cast their votes.

Appoint a legal team to monitor the 2004 election, and if anyone is intimidated, or turned away from the polls illegally, push to prosecute the perpetrators to the full extent of the law.

› Read the speech.
› See the True Grits Tour Schedule and speeches.