[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 145 (Monday, November 13, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H11869-H11870]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       MORE ON THE FLORIDA FIASCO

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mica) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MICA. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. 
Kingston), and maybe he could remain.
  I just want to go over a few points today. I would say to my 
colleagues that we do have an incredible process in our country. We all 
get to participate. Election day is an exciting day, and no American 
can be denied access to the ballot box under our laws. We want to make 
sure that everyone has equal access to the ballot.
  There has been a great deal of confusion. Some of it has of course 
been in my State, even in my locale in central Florida. I have just 
returned from observing some of the process. In the Florida House of 
Representatives, I served on the ethics and elections committee and 
helped write some of the laws that we now work under, and some have 
been changed since I left there and came to Congress some years ago. 
But basically, under the laws of this State of Florida, and under the 
laws and the Constitution of the United States, there is one date set 
aside for the election of the President of the United States. Just look 
at article 2 of the Constitution and it is there, the method for 
electing the President. We all cast our ballots on that date.
  In Florida, there was a vote taken, and the results of that vote are 
public record, and it is all submitted through the supervisor of 
elections to the State Secretary of State. In a close election, Florida 
law provides that where there is one-half of 1 percent difference, that 
there is an automatic recount. Neither side has to ask for a recount; a 
recount is ordered.
  So in Florida we had under the Constitution and State laws a legal, 
valid election in which Governor Bush led. We had a recount. The 
Secretary of State gave them until Thursday at 5 p.m., last Thursday at 
5 p.m., each county the right and obligation to submit a recount, and 
each one was to conduct that, and I believe the Secretary of State even 
gave some extra time. In my county, we stayed up until 4 a.m. in the 
morning, and we were the last, Seminole County, to report. All 67 
counties in a recount reported under the laws of the State of Florida 
in proper order. Now we have gotten into recounts of the general 
election, recounts of the recount, and we are into this sort of fuzzy 
area.
  Mr. Speaker, the law, and it has changed since I was in the 
legislature, allows for manual counts; but unfortunately, there are no 
guidelines for this. So what I saw over the weekend in these manual 
counts, even in Volusia County, is sort of disorganized; I do not want 
to say chaos, but it is sort of recounting the second time by the seat 
of your pants.

                              {time}  1930

  And it is somewhat subjective. That is what we do not want in this 
case. We have two valid counts, and that is what we need to take.
  The gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Kingston) pointed out that in Palm 
Beach County there were some 16,000 invalid ballots. We have also 
documented throughout the State, almost in every county we had invalid 
counts.

[[Page H11870]]

  So we have two counts. Tomorrow the Secretary of State, Katherine 
Harris, has very appropriately said she is going to abide by the law of 
the State of Florida. That is, by 5 p.m. they will certify a count. The 
three members of our State Canvassing Board, the Secretary of State, 
now the Commissioner of Agriculture since the Governor recused himself, 
and one other elections official will serve as the canvassing board, 
and at 5 p.m. those will be the votes that are counted.
  Courts can extend this. They may very well do this. But the ultimate 
decision is up to those three individuals who will be the State 
certifiers.
  Finally, let me just make one other point. The only other ballots 
that will be counted when all this is said and done, according, also, 
to law, and we must adhere to law, are the overseas ballots, which must 
be in by Friday at close of business.
  All the rest of this, dragging people in from Chicago, Reverend 
Jackson from wherever he comes from, and all these other folks, is just 
in fact a sham, and it sort of insults the process. I am sorry to see 
that so many people have ganged in here. We need to follow the law and 
the procedures, and we will elect a president.

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