Gore helps win final seal of approval for Bush

About a dozen black legislators walked off the House floor in protest after their challenge of the disputed vote in Florida was not allowed to be brought to the floor for consideration due to procedural reasons.

Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Florida Democrat and a leader of the protest effort, looked up to Gore and said, "We did all we could."

The vice president replied with a grin, drawing applause from fellow Democrats, "The chair thanks the gentleman."

The verification of the electoral vote on Saturday cleared the way for Bush to be sworn in on Jan. 20 as the nation’s 43rd president.

"I’M Honored," said Bush, speaking with reporters at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. "I guess I better go and write an inaugural speech."

"I want to be the president of everybody, whether they supported me or not," the former Texas governor said.

Gore conceded the presidential election on Dec. 13, a day after a divided U.S. Supreme Court refused to permit a hand count of thousands of disputed ballots in Florida, where Bush was certified as the winner by 537 votes out of 6 million cast in the state in the Nov. 7 election.

The razor-close margin gave Bush the state’s 25 electoralvotes, which put him over the necessary 270 to claim victory.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus on Saturday sought to challenge the 25 electoral votes from Florida, charging widespread abuses in the state and failure adequately to count all ballots.

One by one, about a dozen mostly black House members rose to lodge written objections. But Gore ruled each out of order because they lacked a needed signature from a member of the Senate during the joint session of Congress.

"I don’T care that it is not signed by a senator," said Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat.

"The chair would advise that the rules do care," Gore replied, triggering applause by Republicans.

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., an Illinois Democrat and son of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, said, "It is a sad day in America when we can’t find a senator to sign the objection."

At one point, Jackson asked if any senator in the chamber would step forward and sign it. None did.

Afterward, Sen. Christopher Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat,said, "It was a very good point they made," but added that joining the objections would have been fruitless because there were not enough Democratic votes to sustain the motions.

"It’s over with," Dodd said.

Rep. Corrine Brown, a Florida Democrat and member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said, "We keep hearing, ‘Get over this.’ We will never get over this. The Supreme Court selected George W. Bush as president — he was not elected."

Gore is the first vice president to preside over a joint session of Congress verifying his own White House defeat since Richard Nixon did so in 1961 after be was beaten by John Kennedy.

Gore and running mate Joseph Lieberman won the popular vote in the election by more than a half million ballots. Yet Bush and Dick Cheney captured the decisive Electoral College vote.

STUDY OF ELECTORAL PROCEDURES SOUGHT

On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of SouthDakota, along with some fellow Democrats and Republicans in the Senate, asked the General Accounting Office to assess electoral procedures throughout the United States.

The Electoral College dates back to the founding of thenation and was intended to help protect the interests of small states.

Under the system, states are allocated electors equal toits number of senators — each state has two — plus the number of its members in the House, determined by state population.

Following this year’s election, some Democrats on CapitolHill renewed calls to abolish the Electoral College, saying it was outdated and unfair. They said the presidential race should be determined by the popular vote.

Yet there appears to be little enthusiasm in Congress formoving to amend the Constitution to get rid of the Electoral College.