Presidential Election Reform Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, Congress has a sacred duty to uphold our elections and to safeguard our democratic process. I rise in strong support of that mission.

I am not surprised that we hear on this floor the rationalization of insurrection, the rationalization of what I believe was treason.

I rise with extraordinary respect for the gentlewoman from Wyoming, as Republican as any Member of that side of the aisle, save a willingness to stand and speak truth to power, to honor facts, to honor the Constitution.

I applaud her for it and have deep respect for her willingness to stand up today and for history.

The gentleman from Georgia called January 6 an incident. The Republican National Committee passed a resolution, almost overwhelmingly, that referred to January 6 as legitimate political discourse: see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil.

I hear my friend, Mr. Davis, speaking about this being a partisan issue. This is an American issue. This is a democracy issue. This is a values issue.

To those who come to this well or speak from the floor to try to rationalize the invitation given by President Trump--the incitement stated by President Trump--and the deployment of a mob to fight like hell and stop the steal--I advise my colleagues and I urge my colleagues to look at Vice President Gore's comments when he lost the election 5-4. He honored the Court's decision, not because he agreed with it, but because he said it was good for America and our democracy.

I call attention to the remarks of Hillary Clinton when she lost to President Trump. That night, knowing that she had gotten 3 million more votes, she conceded because the law is the electoral college makes that decision.

In 1864, despite the turmoil of Civil War, President Lincoln-- President Lincoln would be standing with Liz Cheney if he were on this floor. President Lincoln went to great lengths to ensure that Americans had the opportunity to make their voices heard in a national election. He argued that ``We cannot have free government without elections,'' and that ``if the rebellion could force us to forego or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.''

Liz Cheney has said that, not exactly in those words, but it is exactly the same substance of what Abraham Lincoln said over a century and a half ago.

We came face to face with a similar danger on January 6 last year. It was rationalized then, and, sadly, it is being rationalized now. History will judge.

The insurrection revealed a willful and false refusal to accept the certified and judicially confirmed election results. The gentleman from Illinois said that the Trump administration went to the courts. They lost time after time after time after time, and to this day, they do not accept what Al Gore accepted, that we are a nation of laws and not of one man.

There are ambiguities in our electoral system, and they can jeopardize our democracy. That is what this bill is about: upholding our democracy.

Questions surrounding the Vice President's role in counting electoral votes served as a pretext for the insurrectionists' assault on the Capitol. Fortunately, their conspiracy and their plot failed. In that incident that the gentleman from Georgia talked about, police officers died, civilians died, and hundreds were injured severely in that incident.

What a polite word for treason and insurrection.

That tragic and dangerous episode, however, underscored the importance of clarifying any uncertainties that future malevolent actors could exploit to undermine the will of the American people as expressed through their votes.

I went to the Charles County Fair last weekend. I went to the Democratic booth. As I always do, I went to the Republican booth, and the biggest sign was: Trump won.

We are a nation of laws. Try to respect a nation of laws. The bipartisan legislation the Presidential Election Reform Act provides the clarity necessary.

It reaffirms, as former Vice President Mike Pence correctly concluded--which is why those incidents were calling for the death of the Vice President with a noose hanging out in front of the Capitol and why they were calling for the life of the Speaker of the House in that incident--that he did not have, and he does not have the authority to delay or reject the counting of electoral votes.

Why?

Because we are a nation of laws and a nation of the Constitution. That principle was established in both the Constitution and the Electoral Count Act of 1887.

Not only would this legislation raise the threshold required to object to a State's slate of electors from the ridiculously low one House Member and one Senator to one-third of the membership--at least 152 million people ought to be given that respect who voted in that election--at least one-third of us would have to rise to overturn their judgment.

This bill also restricts the grounds on which objections can be made, limiting the ability of Members to lodge frivolous and partisan objections.

The bill also contains important provisions to restrict the ability of State and local elected and election officials to undermine or overturn the process of tabulating and certifying results in their jurisdictions. People elect the President, not State legislators, and not this Congress. The American people elect the President.

Not only do these measures align with the overwhelming consensus--not just conservative commentators, but commentators of all stripes whether ideological or not, believe this is a good piece of legislation. I share their view.

No individual or group of conspirators ought to have the power to subvert the will of the American people.

I thank the Committee on House Administration Chair Zoe Lofgren, and I share the remarks of the gentlewoman from Wyoming about her integrity, her intellect, and her conscientious carrying out of her duties as a Member of the Congress. Indeed, Vice-Chair Cheney's work on this bill and the January 6 Committee will go down as one of this institution's greatest examples of political courage and integrity.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her work.

Similarly, I thank Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and her colleagues on the House Oversight and Reform Committee for their work investigating vulnerabilities in our democratic process.

We must now come together not as Republicans, not as Democrats, and not as partisans, but as protectors. We raised our hands and said that we would protect the Constitution and laws of this Nation. This is one of those days that we get to meet that oath.

Let me conclude because not only did Lincoln argue that elections were essential to free government, but he also made clear his belief that ``elections belong to the people. It is their choice.''

That is what this legislation is about. Stand up for your country. Stand up for the people. Vote for this bill.

Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, may I inquire how much time is remaining.

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