Sheila Jackson Lee: “I thank the gentlewoman from California for her leadership. There is not a time that I go home that they don't ask me…”

“I thank the gentlewoman from California for her leadership. There is not a time that I go home that they don't ask me how we will secure our elections. I am proudly supporting the Securing America's Federal Elections Act, the SAFE Act, and I am asking why our colleagues are fighting against Americans having the right to vote. The SAFE Act authorizes a $600 million Election Assistance Commission grant program. It provides States with $175 million in biannual sustainment funding to help maintain election infrastructure. Voting machines are required to be manufactured in the United States. States are mandated to conduct risk-limiting audits. Another very important feature of the SAFE Act is that it requires accountability for election technology vendors and sets cybersecurity standards. As a member of the Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, recognizing what happened in 2016, I want to make sure that the Russian adversaries, the Russian military, are not our poll watchers, are not our secretaries of states, are not the vendors for our machines. I want to make sure for minorities, every vote counts, and for every American, every vote counts. I want to end voter suppression. The way we do this is to have safe elections. I am very proud of this legislation, and I am proud of this Speaker, proud of the leadership, to say that we are going to be first on the line to tell America we believe in safe, equal, and fair elections. I ask my friends to support this legislation.…”