Zoe Lofgren: “I think this amendment improves the bill. It revises the election infrastructure grant program and includes an emphasis…”

“I think this amendment improves the bill. It revises the election infrastructure grant program and includes an emphasis on increasing voter participation, in addition to the emphasis on improving election infrastructure that is currently included in H.R. 1. I am especially pleased that it engages the National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST, which is really the premier agency to help us on technical issues. So I think it is a very good amendment. And while I have the floor, I would like to note that I will include in the Record a letter from the AFL-CIO and a letter from the American Federation of Teachers urging support of H.R. 1. AFL-CIO, Washington, DC, March 5, 2019. United States House, Washington, DC. Dear Representative: On behalf of the AFL-CIO, I am writing to express our strong support for H.R. 1, the ``For the People Act of 2019.'' By expanding access to the ballot box, reducing the influence of big money in politics and strengthening ethics rules for public servants, this legislation includes many of the most important reforms necessary to restore the promise of our democracy. For years, right-wing groups backed by wealthy donors have been working aggressively to suppress the right of every American citizen to cast a ballot. They have supported laws to make it harder to register and to vote and they have used the corrosive power of money to drown out the voices of working people. H.R.…”