Sean Patrick Maloney: “my amendment restores the $1.7 million which the Federal Election Commission says it needs to investigate the high…”

“my amendment restores the $1.7 million which the Federal Election Commission says it needs to investigate the high number of pending cases from the 1996 election cycle. Last night the Republican leadership ruled the bipartisan amendment I offered with the gentleman from Connecticut [Mr. Shays], the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Meehan] and the gentlewoman from New Jersey [Mrs. Roukema] to restore this funding out of order because the chairman of the Committee on Rules said it was, quote, not an emergency. But let us look at some of the things that are in the bill that are recognized as emergencies. There is $10 million to the National Park Service to implement the Yosemite Valley transportation plan. There is $37.1 million for road and trail maintenance for the National Forest Service that the committee report does not say is associated with Western flooding or disaster relief, yet this bill recognizes it as an emergency. Then there is $2.5 million to pay for digital mapping in the San Joaquin Valley. I think that the American people believe investigating charges of corruption and abuse in our elections are just as important, much more important and much more of an emergency than some of the things that are in this bill. The Federal Election Commission has asked for $1.7 million to conduct investigations into 1996 pending election abuses.”