Lori Trahan: “I commend my friend, the Congressman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes) for offering one of the most significant reforms to…”

“I commend my friend, the Congressman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes) for offering one of the most significant reforms to our election system in a generation. I am particularly pleased that H.R. 1 puts redistricting in the hands of independent commissions, where it belongs. Under the bill, each State will create 15-person independent redistricting commissions that represent the public's interests first and foremost, without consideration of political party advantage. However, to prevent the real or perceived risk of bias, H.R. 1 excludes several categories of people from serving on these commissions, including political candidates or officeholders, campaign officials, big donors, and lobbyists. My amendment would simply add to this list those individuals who are registered agents under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, FARA. FARA has been in law since the 1930s. It requires disclosure when an individual is acting as a political representative of foreign governments. As with H.R. 1's current exclusions, adding foreign agents will help ensure that those serving on the independent redistricting commissions are not at risk of actual or perceived conflicts of interest. Coming from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which gave our Nation the term ``gerrymander,'' I am pleased that H.R. 1 will put an end to this device by allowing voters to choose their representatives rather than the other way around.…”