Andrea Joy Campbell: “It is my prayer that today we can put our animosities behind us and that is the reason why I asked to speak. Mr.…”

“It is my prayer that today we can put our animosities behind us and that is the reason why I asked to speak. Mr. Speaker, I wish to say that it is my view that the gentlewoman from California ought to have her attorneys' fees paid, because she is the prevailing party. I believe that in civil litigation, and that should apply here. I also believe that my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Ehlers) has done a very fine job and that it was unfair to criticize him as much as he has been criticized. He is an honest man and he did his very best. The same goes for my good friend and colleague, the gentleman from California (Mr. Thomas). What lasts from this, what comes out of this that might be of permanent value is that we should in the future have a standard for those cases where we cannot prove ballot-box stuffing, but where the number of persons who voted, who should not have, exceeds the margin of the outcome. That is a case that is ambiguous in existing law. I think it is a good rule, going forward, that when the number of cases of illegal voters exceeds the margin, we have to hold a new election. That seems to me safe. Lastly I would say that the more important thing even than that lesson is that we not let the rancor continue. I welcome my colleague from California as a fellow Californian. I trust that all of us can put this behind us for the good of our Congress and the good of our Nation.”