Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6513, the Confirmation of Congressional Observer Access Act, or the COCOA Act. Ensuring the fairness and accuracy of our elections is of utmost importance for me as chairman of the Committee on House Administration. {time} 1530 The Election Observer Program is one of the key ways my committee has worked to strengthen election administration practices. Since 1933, there have been 110 contested election cases considered in the House. This averages to over two contests per Congress. 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 that contested race by only six votes, and trained House election observers were instrumental in collecting on-the-ground, factual information for Congress. 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. In the 2022 election cycle, observers were deployed to roughly 25 sites across the country. This long-running program has deployed trained congressional staff as election observers to sites nationwide with close congressional contests. Deploying election observers is much needed.…”