Angus King

He believes that members of Congress should have to wear jackets like NASCAR drivers with their sponsors on the jacket.

I do not think there is much question, and polls support this, that this whole money and politics is part of what is turning off the American people to the process.

But if you have full disclosure, the citizens can make that decision.

That is not what America is all about.

I think we are insulting the Byzantines, frankly, by likening this to their conduct.

I am delighted that there will be a vote on Senator Udall's constitutional amendment.

I agree very much with Justice Hugo Black who famously said, with regard to the First Amendment, the words Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech means exactly what it says.

We have to bring some balance to our political system. If people lose faith in this system, which they are rapidly doing, in large part, because they feel, correctly, that people with a lot of money have far more say in the actual…

Our democratic process is broken and corrupt right now because politicians in both parties hold onto incumbency.

And we cannot wait for a solution that may not be available to us in the political or public policy sphere, or in the political sphere, and so other alternatives have to be developed on a fairly urgent basis.

Well, we have to do something. I mean, the alarm bells are ringing.

When the Supreme Court, or any of my colleagues, say that the Koch Brothers' First Amendment rights are being deprived, that they are not being heard, it defies common sense, it defies logic.

Let us allow those who want to contribute and engage in our political system to give money where they want as long as they follow the law.

But it is a question that is important because if it does not get fixed then we do not get the certification, right?

I want to follow up again on the question of certification because you both identified there is a kind of coming-at-us wave of replacement of machines with new technology, and yet, if the certification system is broken, that could be a…

I want to sincerely express my appreciation on behalf of myself and Senator Roberts to your commitment and willingness to step forward in these somewhat difficult circumstances.

I believe that regardless of the SENTRI Act we are always looking to improve our processes and improve the assistance that we provide our military and overseas citizen voters.

I used to say that Jefferson characterized the States as the laboratories of democracy, but nobody reads the lab reports.

We had a situation in a Maine election recently where we had very early voting.

I urge the Acting Chairman to talk with his leadership.

So, in the states that have those systems, a young member of the military who had not registered at all when they left the country could register in Virginia or in Wisconsin from abroad and then go through the voting process; is that…

Voting is our most fundamental democratic right.

The EAC has the opportunity to be able to provide important resources for State and local election officials.

I think one important function this Commission can provide is as a clearinghouse of best practices from across the country.

On behalf of the Rules Committee, I want to thank you for your testimony this morning.