Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Senate amendment to H.R. 6513, the Confirmation of Congressional Observer Access Act, or COCOA Act. Ensuring the fairness and accuracy of our elections is of utmost importance for me as chairman of the Committee on House Administration, which has broad oversight for our Nation's Federal elections. The Election Observer Program is one of the key ways the committee has worked to strengthen our election administration practices. Since 1933 there have been 110 contested election cases considered in the House. This averages to two contests per Congress. Congressional observers collect on-the-ground factual information for Congress and my committee for these potential election contests. During the 2020 election cycle, House election observers were deployed to Iowa's Second District to oversee the administration of the election of our now-colleague, Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks. She went on to win the contested race by only six votes, and trained House election observers were instrumental in gathering the information the committee needed to seat the rightful winner. The Constitution grants Congress the authority to ``be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own Members.'' It is under this constitutional authority that the House established the nonpartisan Election Observer Program.…”