Zoe Lofgren

Ms. LOFGREN

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes), the prime author of this bill.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chair, I withdraw my motion for the Committee to rise.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, if the gentleman would like to wrap up, I will also wrap up.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, before yielding to the gentleman from New Jersey, I would like to just address a couple of simple points. The DISCLOSE Act really pivots off the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United. And as they said in that decision: Disclaimer and disclosure requirements impose no ceiling on campaign-related activities and do not prevent anyone from speaking. Concern has been expressed about the ability to remain private. That is provided for in this bill. It is simple. If you don't want to be disclosed, note that your donation is not for campaign purposes, and you will not be disclosed. Further, there is an express protection provided for any donor who fears that they may face threat of harassment or reprisal. So we have thought of this, and this was dealt with in our markup. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from New Jersey.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chair, I yield the gentleman from Maryland an additional 1 minute.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Chairman, this is an important bill for many reasons. We have seen all over the United States efforts to prevent Americans from being able to vote, from moving polling places out of a jurisdiction without any public transportation so voters can't get there, to reducing early voting, to voter ID requirements that have a disparate result and disadvantage young people. For example, in Texas you can show your hunting license but not your University of Texas ID. I think there is a rationale behind that. We have had enough. We believe that American citizens ought to be able to vote and that we should do everything in Federal elections as the Constitution provides to allow those American citizens to vote. That is why this bill provides for at least 15 days of early voting for Federal elections, no-excuse absentee ballots, that provisional ballots are treated uniformly so a voter in one State is treated the same way as a voter in another State when they are voting for the House of Representatives. We want to improve access for voters with disabilities and for overseas and military voters. We know that we are vulnerable to hacking. We have voting machines that are using software that is no longer even updated. They are vulnerable to hacking. We have got to have paper ballots that are subject to a recount. Much has been said about elements of this, but one of the things that I think is very important is the Federal congressional redistricting provisions. If there is one thing that makes Americans upset it is politicians manipulating the districts so that even if they don't get the votes, they get to win the seats. That is gerrymandering. This bill does away with it for the House of Representatives. It requires all States to establish independent redistricting commissions for the purpose of developing and enacting congressional redistricting plans. It exempts States that meet the minimum requirements, including the State of Arizona, contrary to one of the comments made earlier here today. There has been a lot of discussion about money, but I will include in the Record the preliminary report we have received from the Joint Committee on Taxation. The estimate of the proposed 2.75 percent special assessment on criminal penalties and civil penalties is that it would raise $1.948 billion between 2019 and 2029 and that it would reduce the deficit by $83 million because people would be deterred by the additional penalty. That is from the Joint Committee on Taxation. I didn't make that up. So this bill has a lot of sound provisions in it. It discloses big money so that there is transparency, as the court in Citizens United suggested that we do. It empowers small donors so the big money guys don't own the government. It reforms the ethics process for the President, the Congress, and for the judiciary. I am sorry to say that some candidates win only when they suppress the vote, and we have seen that happen across the United States. We are not going to allow that to happen. Every American has a right to vote, to have their vote counted and let the chips fall where they may. That is what H.R. 1 will do. Mr. Chairman, I urge its passage, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, I would just note that when a rider is added to the appropriations bill, you have to vote for the whole package to keep the government open. Mr. Chairman, I yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes).

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, it is my honor to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Cummings), the chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Kilmer).

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chair, I yield an additional 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), a leader for civil rights and justice in our country.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Rhode Island (Mr. Langevin), who has served so faithfully on the House Homeland Security Committee.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire how much time remains on each side.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, it is my honor to yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), who is the Democratic leader.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes), the one person who probably has worked harder than anyone else on this bill.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson Lee), who is my colleague on the Judiciary Committee.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), a pioneer and leader in clean government.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chair, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Nadler), chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I have to note that the last speaker failed to read the entire section. Article I, section 4 says: ``The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof;'' as was mentioned. And it then goes on to say, ``but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations. . . . `' And that is what we are doing here. Why? Because we have seen in States throughout the country efforts to prevent people from voting in Federal elections. And so a voter in one State is treated differently than in another State, and that is what we are going to change with H.R. 1. Mr. Chair, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Krishnamoorthi).

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to claim the time in opposition, although I do not oppose the amendment.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Davis), a valued Member of the House Administration Committee.

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Chair, H.R. 1 will begin the process of returning the government to the people. Many provisions of H.R. 1 have been pending and ignored for years in this House. No more. H.R. 1 has been the subject of hearings in five committees and 15 hours of testimony from witnesses. Throughout these hearings, we have heard our Republican friends bemoan a rushed process when, in fact, they had 8 years to consider these proposals but failed to do so. Today, we deliver on our promise to the American people. H.R. 1 is critically important at this point in our history. Trust in government and in many institutions has eroded because of years of putting profit before the people and letting politicians pick their voters. Dark money has been allowed to poison our system, drowning out the voices of the very people who we were sent here to represent. Access to the ballot box has been impeded by arbitrary obstacles that have made voting a privilege, not a right. Without trust, our representative system suffers. Too many Americans view themselves as shut out from our democracy. Others cannot participate because of election administration procedures that fail to account for how Americans live and work in the 21st century. Some of these barriers make it harder for certain populations, including communities of color and other underrepresented groups, to vote. This is especially the case after the Supreme Court gutted core provisions of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision has further empowered wealthy special interests and ushered in nearly a billion dollars in money from undisclosed sources, even though the Court affirmed the importance of disclosure by a vote of 8 to 1. H.R. 1 reverses course and strengthens our democracy and makes it easier and more convenient for all eligible Americans to vote. It offers solutions to the dominance of big money in politics, and it ensures public officials will work in the public interest. One of the things that has been discussed is the proposal for a freedom from influence fund that will allow for small donors to reclaim control of candidates through $200 or less donations. I want to make it clear that no taxpayer funds are permitted to flow into this freedom from influence fund. Instead, as was approved in our last vote, a modest additional assessment of 2.75 percent on Federal fines, penalties, and settlements for certain tax crimes and corporate malfeasance will be the sole source of funding for this freedom from influence fund. In fact, the bad guys will be funding the clean system. This bill will lower barriers to voting for all eligible Americans. It will save costs, bolster the integrity of election administration, and, for example, it will modernize voter registration systems by enabling automatic voter registration and same-day voter registration, taking advantage of technology to ensure all Americans can register and update their voter registration status online. Automatic voter registration, alone, may bring up to 50 million new American citizens onto the rolls and, therefore, able to vote. It makes improvements to ensure ballot access for voters with disabilities as well as our overseas and military voters. It ensures early voting for at least 15 days and will require States to use voter-verified paper ballots. This is a commonsense safeguard to cybersecurity threats, especially after the 2016 election showed vulnerabilities in our system. H.R. 1 will reform redistricting to ensure fairness in the process to guard against partisanship and respect communities of interest. This legislation will shine a light on dark secret money that influences campaigns and will protect everyone's right to know who is influencing their votes and their views. As I mentioned earlier, it provides an alternative voluntary system for candidates to finance their campaigns by empowering small dollar contributors all without taxpayer money. This will reduce candidates' reliance on wealthy special interests and open the political process to more people. This will create a government for the people. H.R. 1 will also implement high ethical standards and boost confidence in self-government. It has been said that we should not take these steps, but Article I, Section 4 of the United States Constitution provides that Congress may, by law, regulate votes in Federal elections. It is time that we take this step. Democracy is resilient, but it requires our continual work to ensure that it lives up to its promise. H.R. 1 is a major, comprehensive step forward, a step that we must take if we are to be true to our promise of our representative government. Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.

Ms. LOFGREN. I yield the gentleman from Washington an additional 30 seconds.