The chief of the Justice Department’s voting rights section has apologized for, but refused to retract, his claim that elderly voters would be harmed most by voter ID laws because most minorities die before becoming elderly. John Tanner made the comment earlier this month at the National Latino Congreso.

John Tanner: “Of course, that also ties in to the racial aspect, because our society is such that minorities don’t become elderly, the way white people do. They die first, through inequities in healthcare. There are a variety of inequities in this country. And so, anything that disproportionately impacts the elderly has the opposite impact on minorities. Just the math is such as that.”

On Tuesday, Tanner told a House committee his comments were “hurtful” and “clumsy,” but stuck by his statement.