Providing for Consideration of Senate Amendment to H.R. Nasa Enhanced Use Leasing Extension Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Ms. TENNEY. Madam Speaker, once again, we find ourselves on the floor of the House of Representatives debating legislation to enact the great takeover of elections by partisan Federal bureaucrats and their friends across the aisle and prohibit the most basic voting rights and security measures entrusted to the States and the American people.

The so-called Freedom to Vote Act: John R. Lewis Act, which Democrats hope to attach as a rider to nongermane legislation, will undermine the very integrity of our elections, not improve and increase access to voting, a mission we all share.

The right to vote is sacred and represents the most important expression of self-governance as American citizens. This legislation will further erode the confidence of the voters who have already lost faith in our ability to ensure free and fair elections.

President Biden and his allies in Congress are yet again pushing unconstitutional legislation to ban popular voter ID laws and mandate ballot harvesting. This includes States that have already passed these commonsense laws to bolster election integrity and guarantee that each citizen is guaranteed one vote in each election, not more than one.

This legislation also burdens the American taxpayer with the obligation to fund political campaigns, even for those whom they don't support. Worse, this pair of bills will open the door for noncitizens to vote, thus undermining and diluting the power of sworn citizens to control their government.

In my home State, Democrats--one-party rule in New York City; one- party rule in Albany--are already enacting these radical policies that drive a dagger into the heart of self-governance. This deliberate act to erode our democracy and to weaken the voting power of American citizens is not only wrong; it is unconstitutional.

Article II of the New York State Constitution explicitly states that: ``Every citizen shall be entitled to vote at every election . . .'' Section 5-102 of New York Election Law states: ``No person shall be qualified to register for and vote at any election unless he'' or she ``is a citizen of the United States . . .'' Finally, the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution also protects the right of all eligible citizens to vote.

Subversive legislation, such as the law allowing noncitizens to vote signed recently into law in New York City, and most of the provisions that we are debating today, will, if passed, undermine the core principles of freedom and individual rights that are enshrined and protected by our constitutional Republic.

In fact, a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll found that a mere 20 percent of the public was very confident in the integrity of our election system.

Our democratic principles and the belief in the idea of ``one person, one vote'' are under attack. When our citizens lose faith in the integrity of our elections, this is what happens.

We are at a crossroads.

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Ms. TENNEY. Too many precious American souls have sacrificed life and limb to protect our sacred right to vote. Now is the time to choose self-governance by, of, and for the people, not a takeover and surrender to partisan bureaucrats.

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