Nasa Enhanced Use Leasing Extension Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. FITZGERALD. Mr. Speaker, today I rise in objection to H.R. 5746, which is the latest attempt by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to ignore the 10th Amendment and dump on the State legislatures of this Nation, basically telling them, ``You are incompetent,'' not to mention the clerks.

Democrats first tried to barge through the front door of election administration with H.R. 1. After that failed, they tried an overhaul on the backdoor functions. And this bill represents a full-blown takeover.

The supposedly slimmed-down bill would still override State laws by creating a Federal right to no-excuse mail-in voting and requires States to accept late-arriving ballots as long as they have timely postmarks. It is kind of a joke.

It would automatically give felons the right to vote. Great.

It would also override State voter ID requirements. Only a few months ago, Mr. Speaker, many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle argued that voter ID laws suppressed voter turnout, only to flip-flop once they saw that the public overwhelmingly supports proof of identity before casting a ballot--80 percent in some States.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to have implemented strong voter ID laws during my time in the Wisconsin legislature. Unfortunately, leading up to the 2020 election, I saw these protections steamrolled under the guise of the pandemic.

Let's talk about the Supreme Court. In 2013, a decision recognized that we are no longer living in the Jim Crow era. The original Voting Rights Act worked, and extreme policies like preclearance are no longer required.

Allegations that election integrity measures that have been adopted by States, such as Texas and Georgia, amount to anything close to Jim Crow-era restrictions is a slap in the face to those who endured real discrimination.

There is no voting rights crisis. This is not about ensuring access to the polls. This is about taking power from the State legislatures and concentrating our election systems in the hands of Federal bureaucrats.

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