WASHINGTON, D.C.— Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) released the following statement after House passage of H.R. 1:
“H.R. 1 is straight out of the Democrat policy playbook: it funnels money from American taxpayers into politicians’ pockets, hands local control of elections over to the federal government, and enshrines voter fraud.
“This bloated federal takeover of elections was written by outside special interest groups without Republican input, Republican cosponsors, or Republican amendments. For all the Democrats’ talk of open, fair, and transparent governance, H.R. 1 is a shamelessly partisan and swampy bill.
“This legislation is a grab-bag of policies that will only make our elections uglier and less secure. A federal elimination of state laws that require people to show their ID and prove who they are before voting. Partisan FEC commissions determine what constitutes political speech. Small-dollar donation matching creates a system where taxpayer money funds candidates the taxpayer doesn’t support. Democrats aren’t serious about the security of our elections; they voted to support allowing illegal immigrants to vote in our elections.
“There has not been regular process for H.R. 1 because Democrats wanted to get this signature legislation of theirs on the floor and off their hands with as little scrutiny as possible. The more you look at what’s in it, the more you oppose it. Even the notoriously liberal American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) publicly came out against H.R. 1 for unconstitutionally restricting free speech. Every vote should be legal, counted, and protected. H.R. 1 does nothing to accomplish that goal and should have been rejected by Republicans and Democrats alike.”