Donald M. Payne: “First let me thank the gentleman from Fort Worth and the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands for heading these Special…”

“First let me thank the gentleman from Fort Worth and the gentlewoman from the Virgin Islands for heading these Special Order hours. It is an honor that I had prior to them, and I am sure that they see the importance of being able to spearhead topics that are important for today. Mr. Speaker, President Trump's claims of widespread voter fraud are unsubstantiated. Officials in both parties have said that there is no evidence of large-scale voter fraud. A comprehensive investigation found only 31 possible cases of impersonation fraud out of 1 billion votes cast in all elections between 2000 and 2014. President Trump lost the popular vote by 2.8 million, and it looks like he is looking for an excuse. What is worse is that President Trump's unfounded claims will encourage Republicans to double down on their assault on voting rights. There is no significant evidence of fraud, but President Trump's claims will be used as cover to suppress the vote. He is already talking about launching a major investigation into nonexistent voter fraud. The only thing that would come from such an investigation would be further restrictions on voting rights. If President Trump wants to investigate anything, he should investigate the real voter fraud talking place--the Republican-led attempts to suppress minority votes.…”