Ed Royce: “I would like to thank the authors of the bill. I would like to thank Representative Castro and Representative Meadows. I…”

“I would like to thank the authors of the bill. I would like to thank Representative Castro and Representative Meadows. I would like to thank also our ranking member, Mr. Engel. They put a lot of work in on this important legislation. There has long been a strong bipartisan consensus in Congress on the importance of promoting democracy overseas, and this is because America is undeniably more secure when fewer nations are authoritarian. But democracy promotion is not just about that. It is not just about our security. It is also morally just. Human rights are far better protected in democratic countries, ones without dank prison cells full of political prisoners. Elections are an important part of democracy, but all too often, elections overseas are plagued, often by corruption or technical challenges, sometimes by lack of transparency. And this bill will address these impediments by creating an electoral exchange program so that we can take our best practices and lessons learned overseas to help local governments improve their own election capacity. So I urge my colleagues to support this measure, and I yield back the balance of my time. The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Rogers of Kentucky). The question is on the motion offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Royce) that the House suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 5274, as amended.…”