[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 10, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H696-H700]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              FUTURE FORUM

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from California (Mr. Swalwell) is 
recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, we are here for another 
Future Forum discussion, and tonight our topic is restoring our 
democracy, campaign finance, and voting rights.
  Americans agree, our voting system and our political system is 
broken, and the integrity of our democracy is at stake.
  Future Forum is a House Democratic Caucus group consisting of 17 of 
our youngest members who have gone across the country to 11 cities, 
now, talking to young people about their democracy and what they care 
about.
  We were just in Dallas this past Friday, hosted in the Dallas/Fort 
Worth area by Congressman Marc Veasey, as well as being joined by 
Congressman Ruben Gallego of Phoenix.
  Today we are following up on what we heard in Dallas and what we have 
heard in many of the cities before it, which is, for all the issues 
facing millennials, many of them understand that, at the root of the 
problem is the influence of outside money in politics and access to the 
ballot box.
  Joining us tonight is one of the leaders in the House on the issue of 
money and politics, Congressman John Sarbanes of Maryland. He is the 
lead sponsor of the Government By the People Act.
  Also we will be joined by Congressman Kilmer, from the Seattle area, 
and Delegate Plaskett, from the Virgin Islands.
  So I am going to first ask Congressman Sarbanes this question, which 
we have heard from so many millennials across the country: What can we 
do to restore their faith in their government?
  I yield to the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Sarbanes).
  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me thank the gentleman, 
Congressman Swalwell, of the Future Forum, for convening us around 
issues here in the Chamber and out in the country that are particularly 
important and critical for the next generation out there, and what we 
can do to bring their interests in, bring them into the political town 
square, if you will, and get the benefit of their voices.
  The gentleman is absolutely right to point to the challenge, the 
problem we have. Many young people, many Americans of all ages these 
days feel that their voice really isn't accounted for here in 
Washington. Their sense is that there is kind of an insider game being 
played, that big money and special interests hold particular sway in 
this place, and the voice of everyday Americans, average citizens, just 
doesn't have a place.
  That has led to cynicism, it has led to anger, it has led to 
frustration, and it has led to a lot of people deciding to exit the 
political arena.
  It doesn't mean they are not passionate about things. That is clearly 
the case. You see a lot of young people who are focused on climate 
change, on the economy, on jobs, on issues that are important to them. 
They have just kind of given up that maybe Washington and Congress are 
the places where important decisions and progress can be made on those 
issues.
  So the challenge for us is: How do we bring people back? How do we 
get them back into the conversation so we can benefit from what a 
pluralistic democratic society is all about, which is, you get people 
in there, you tussle

[[Page H697]]

around, you put your views out, you reach a compromise, and then you 
move forward? That is what progress is all about.
  I think one of the critical ways to address this is we have got to 
look at revamping the way we fund campaigns in this country. So the 
gentleman is right to call attention to that, and we have a lot of 
leadership here in the House that is focused on what we can do to kind 
of restore the voices of everyday Americans.
  I appreciate your citing the Government By the People Act, which is 
reform legislation that we have introduced in this Congress. We have 
almost 160 cosponsors, including, I think, everybody who is going to 
speak this evening as part of the Future Forum.
  The idea there is just to basically go build a different way of 
funding campaigns that puts everyday citizens back at the center, so 
they are the linchpin, they are the driver, where small donations can 
earn matching funds and help to power the campaign of Members of 
Congress and candidates out there who want to run and become part of 
this place. There will be a place for candidates to turn to support 
their campaigns other than to the special interests and the big money 
crowd.
  We can build a system like that that is viable, that puts everyday 
citizens at the center of it. And I think if we do that, young people 
and people, frankly, of all ages and stripes are going to decide they 
want to step back into the political space because they will feel 
appreciated again, like their voice matters.

                              {time}  1800

  So I look forward to the discussion tonight, and I want to thank you 
for your work on the Future Forum and particularly calling attention 
tonight to this issue of money and politics, how we address it, and how 
we bring the voices of everyday citizens back into the mix into the 
people's House.
  Mr. SWALWELL. I want to again thank my colleague from the Baltimore 
area in Maryland.
  I want to ask Congressman Kilmer. The Future Forum went to Seattle. 
We visited college campuses in the Tacoma and Seattle area. We went to 
a couple of the big businesses in your area with a millennial 
workforce.
  We heard in Tacoma the same thing that we heard when we went to the 
Manchester, New Hampshire, area and the same thing that we heard in the 
Dallas area, which is that millennials just think that the system is 
rigged and there is no reason to participate. The numbers show that. 
Roughly 22 percent of the eligible millennials showed up to vote in 
2014.
  What are you hearing in the Seattle area about this issue?
  Mr. KILMER. I think that is pretty consistent with what we hear in 
our neck of the woods. You saw in the last election season two-thirds 
of Americans cast a no-confidence vote by not voting at all, and those 
numbers are even worse when it comes to millennial voters.
  I think as Mr. Sarbanes said, it is not that they don't care, there 
are a lot of things that they care about. But it is, I think, out of a 
fair belief that there is too much money, too many deep pockets, and 
too many special interests that are driving our democracy.
  This week Politico came out with a report that the 100 biggest donors 
of the 2016 cycle have spent $195 million. That is more than the 
combined total of 2 million small donors. So I think it is fair to say 
that millennial voters see that dynamic and believe that their voice is 
getting drowned out in the process.
  Mr. SWALWELL. If you look at this chart here, 158 families gave 
nearly 50 percent of the early 2016 donations. How does that make you 
feel?
  If you are a part of the largest generation America has ever known, 
80 million people, the most diverse generation America has ever known, 
how does it make you feel when 158 families are contributing over 50 
percent?
  Mr. KILMER. I think it drives the importance of some of the change 
that we are talking about here tonight. Certainly, the Government By 
the People Act is a key part of that, trying to get the deep pockets 
and special interest influence away and actually empower the everyday 
American and millennial voters.
  There are other things we have to do as well. You see this problem 
exacerbated by the Citizens United decision. Many of us are cosponsors 
of a constitutional amendment to undo that Supreme Court decision.
  You have seen efforts focused on trying to at least shine a bright 
light on where some of this dark money is coming from. There is a bill 
called the DISCLOSE Act that at least tries to focus on that issue.
  Then the other thing that I have worked on is trying to put the teeth 
back into the watchdog of our campaign finance system. So, after 
Watergate, you saw the Federal Election Commission established. That 
was really meant to be the watchdog to make sure people weren't 
violating campaign finance law and that they were playing by the rules.
  Unfortunately, as time has passed, the Federal Election Commission 
has almost become as dysfunctional as the United States Congress. The 
consequence of that is people are playing fast and loose with the 
rules.
  You see the rise of super-PACs and this whole question of 
coordination, particularly in the Presidential campaigns, and it is a 
real problem. So we put forward a bill that is called the Restoring 
Integrity to America's Elections Act. Very simply, it tries to put 
teeth back into the Federal Election Commission.
  So there are all sorts of things that we have got to do on this front 
to try to reduce the role of money in our politics and to try to 
restore the people's power back.
  Because, if you look at some the extraordinary things that have 
happened in this country, whether it be the civil rights movement or 
advances made in environmental protection or any number of things, they 
have happened when everyday Americans, citizens, are able to take hold 
of their government and to actually make a difference in their 
government.
  I think each of us is trying to do that, certainly from a policy 
standpoint. Next week I am doing seven townhall meetings in my district 
to try to make sure that everyday Americans have a voice in their 
democracy.
  But you look at charts like that and I think it makes it very hard 
for people to feel any sense of impact and efficacy and feel like their 
voice is being heard. I think it is an important conversation for us to 
be having because we need to change that.
  Mr. SWALWELL. Your proposals to have reforms with more teeth are 
quite popular across the country. I don't know if you knew this, but it 
has strong support across a cross-section of the electorate.
  For example, majorities of Democratic voters, 72 percent women and 84 
percent men, support small donor reforms. Independent voters, 60 
percent of the women polled and 66 percent of the men polled supported 
it. Among Republican voters, 57 percent of the women supported it, and 
53 percent of the men have supported small donor reforms.
  So I want to ask Congressman Sarbanes--and then I see we are now 
joined by Congressman Veasey as well--how has money and politics also 
worked to disenfranchise voters? Because Congressman Veasey and I heard 
in the Dallas/Fort Worth area about how voting laws that have been put 
in place have made it actually quite hard to show up and vote. We heard 
about the purging of people from the voter rolls.
  What is the connection there when you have outside interests drowning 
out voices, putting in who they want as policymakers, and then the 
effect on the rules that go into place as far as how we govern our 
election?
  Mr. SARBANES. You can talk about the effect on the rules. You can 
just also talk about the effect on the enthusiasm for voting, period.
  If people are convinced that money calls the shots, then they are 
going to look at voting as just being asked to come out on election day 
and decide which of two people to send to Washington to work for 
somebody else.
  Look at the issue of access to the ballot box and protecting access 
to the ballot box. Last year I had the opportunity with many Members of 
Congress to go down to Selma with John Lewis and remember the foot 
soldiers from 50 years ago who fought for the right to vote.
  We talked about protecting access to the ballot box. But just as 
important is

[[Page H698]]

protecting the ballot box' opportunity to get to Washington without 
being hijacked along the way.
  Because that undermines the franchise, too. People bleed and sweat to 
get to the ballot box. You have to make sure that ballot box is 
preserved on its way to Washington.
  So on one side of the coin, you have the right to vote, which is 
sacrosanct in our country. On the other side of the coin, you have the 
right to have your vote mean something. That is where we have to 
address the undue influence that money has.
  Two other real quick points before I yield back.
  One is--and this is important, I think, to millennials, young people, 
and the next generation--this question about what we do with money in 
politics. It is not just about putting rules in place. Rules are 
important.
  You have got to have disclosure and transparency. You have to have 
non-coordination rules so the super-PACs can't talk to the candidates. 
You want to try and get a constitutional amendment to put limits on 
what the big money players can do. But rules are putting a referee on 
the field of the democracy to blow the whistle when the big money crowd 
gets out of hand.
  We need the rules, but we also need power. We need to figure out a 
way to get Americans out of the bleachers and onto the field of their 
own democracy. That is what small donor matching systems of public 
financing are all about.
  So it is about rules, but it is also about power. I think young 
people are leaving a lot of power on the table that they can take back 
to give themselves a voice in their democracy again, and they will be 
at the center of that kind of reform. So that is why it is so critical 
to push forward with all of these different measures.
  Then the last thing I just wanted to point out is one of the things 
that happens is young people want to run for office. They want to get 
into the game. They want to enter politics. They want to come into the 
political arena.
  But, unfortunately, there is something called the money primary or 
the green primary where, if you can't find a lot of people that can 
raise a lot of money for you, then you have no way to be viable as a 
candidate. So then you don't even put your hat into the ring.
  One of the things that will happen if we can create systems of small 
donor public financing across the country--and we are starting to see 
that in places like Seattle, Maine, Arizona, Connecticut, New York 
City, and so forth--is that people who before could never imagine 
running because they couldn't raise the money because there is a system 
that can lift them up, they will put their hat in the ring, they will 
run, they will compete, they will win, and they will serve.
  It will change the composition not just of Congress, but of State 
legislatures all across the country. That is the promise of small donor 
reform. Then we can bring young people in here. Then we can get the 
benefit of their wisdom not just as donors and not just as small 
donors, but as candidates and public servants.
  Mr. SWALWELL. Thank you again, Congressman Sarbanes, for your work.
  I want to empower young people across America right now, 
#FutureForum. There is a poll right now: Do you believe Congress should 
vote to update campaign finance rules? We have had over 100 responses 
since just posting it. Ninety percent of the people say yes.
  Congressman Veasey, we were in Dallas on Friday. We talked to 
hundreds of young people about what issues they care about, especially 
access to the ballot box.
  What did you hear in Dallas?
  Mr. VEASEY. Absolutely, Representative Swalwell. I appreciate you 
taking your time to come out to Dallas/Fort Worth.
  All the kids that were there, the college campus, the young 
professionals that we spoke to, the business leaders that we spoke to, 
really appreciated the fact that you and others in Congress are leading 
the effort to engage young people and to engage millennials.
  They make up such a large portion of our population. They are going 
to continue to make up a very large portion of our population. We need 
to engage them to find out what it is they are thinking.
  One of the things that we heard when we were in the metroplex, as we 
like to call Dallas/Fort Worth, is that young people feel like voting 
is not necessarily easy, that some of the barriers that have been put 
up recently in place have made it a lot harder for young people to 
exercise their right to vote.
  One of the young people that we met talked about the fact that they 
had missed one election cycle, they went to go and vote, and they found 
out that they had been suspended from the voter file, that they had 
been actually purged.
  Mr. SWALWELL. I remember that woman. How does she feel about that?
  Mr. VEASEY. It was very discouraging for her. It makes it seem as if 
the system is rigged against her, and she didn't understand why that 
happened. That was really unfortunate.
  One of the other things that I am aware of--because I am actually a 
plaintiff in a lawsuit to roll back the Texas voter ID law--is a lot of 
our young people, when they go to college, get IDs from their 
university. At a lot of our State universities, they will get IDs.
  These IDs are good if they need to identify themselves to a campus 
police officer. If they need to be able to use the ID to get on a plane 
or anything like that, these kids can use these college IDs.
  But under the Texas voter ID law, a lot of our young people, if they 
go back home to vote in their home counties and they show their student 
ID card--a student ID card, again, that is issued by the State of 
Texas--they cannot vote. They will be given a provisional ballot. It 
won't count.
  When young people hear things like that, it really discourages them 
from voting. So we need to do everything we can to engage young people.
  One of the things that I hear, Representative Swalwell, from a lot of 
young people is that--for instance, the young lady that we met that was 
purged from the voter roll--if there were same-day registration--
actually, same-day registration actually encourages young people to 
participate in voting.
  But a lot of States, like the one that I live in, won't do things 
like that. They won't take that initiative. They won't take that extra 
effort to engage young people.
  It is no wonder that so many of our young people feel like the system 
is really rigged against them, that, if they vote, their vote really 
won't count. It is really, really unfortunate.
  I would really think that, in the wake of the 50th anniversary of the 
Voting Rights Act, there is really no better time to assure young 
voters that they can play a pivotal role in our democracy and to 
continue to urge them, despite what a lot of States like mine are 
doing, to really discourage them from voting and discriminate against 
them, that they will continue to take part in help shaping America. The 
best way how you can do that is by voting.
  Mr. SWALWELL. We talked to a lot of innovative young people in 
Dallas. If I have learned anything about young people--and I remember 
being up in Manhattan with Congressman Israel and Congresswoman Grace 
Meng.
  We were at a district co-workspace. The complaint we often heard 
there was just about how darn hard it is to get to the polls and why is 
it on a Tuesday. Why is it so inconvenient.
  I want to have Delegate Plaskett speak to us on voting rights as 
well, but in a moment I'm going to have Steve Israel talk to us about 
weekend elections because people on Twitter right now are asking: Why 
can't we have votes on the weekend?
  Delegate Plaskett, can you talk to us a little bit just about voting 
rights with respect to the Virgin Islands, but also what you are 
hearing among young people.
  Ms. PLASKETT. Thank you so much for putting this together for us to 
be able to speak to the American people and speak to this body about 
voting rights, its importance, and the difficulties, that many groups 
are feeling disenfranchised from the voting system.
  The Voting Rights Act is probably one of the most important pieces of 
legislation that this Congress has put forward. It was passed in 1965 
to prohibit discrimination in voting.
  According to the Department of Justice, the Voting Rights Act itself 
has

[[Page H699]]

been called the single most effective piece of civil rights 
legislation. That was back in 2009 when they said that.
  The Department of Justice has had a history of blocking racial 
gerrymandering, which was covered in section 4 of the act. In 2006, the 
Voting Rights Act was reaffirmed by an act of this Congress.
  The Senate voted for it 98-0, and the House voted 390-33 in favor of 
the Voting Rights Act, which lets us know that this is a fundamental 
right that most Americans believe.

                              {time}  1815

  But there are still these barriers that many groups feel. I know, 
Congressman Swalwell, you have gone around the country. You have heard 
from young people, you have heard from poor people, you have heard from 
those who live in rural areas, the difficulty they have in exercising 
this fundamental right.
  In the Virgin Islands, we are facing an even greater constitutional 
issue that we are bringing court cases to the United States about. Many 
years ago, Congress decided that the right to vote was not a 
fundamental right for people that were living in the territories.
  Under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizen Absentee Voting Act, if you 
live in the United States in any of the 50 States, if you decide to 
move to Paris, if you decide to move to Timbuktu, you can still vote. 
But if you decide that you are going to live in one of the United 
States territories, you have given up that right to vote for your 
President in your Federal election. In places like Guam, American 
Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, we have the highest veteran rate 
per capita in the United States. In the Virgin Islands, we have the 
highest casualty rate per capita of people who have volunteered to 
serve this country, but cannot vote for their Commander in Chief.
  We are bringing case law--and I am part of an effort--to ensure that 
people who decide to live in the Virgin Islands, who are from the 
Virgin Islands, can retain that right to exercise their voice in our 
Federal elections and not something that we are fighting for right now.
  This goes along with many of the other what we believe to be historic 
discrimination that has gone on. There is an enormous amount of racial 
gerrymandering that is happening in this country. The great Mr. John 
Lewis, our colleague, has issued H.R. 12, I believe it is, which is a 
bill to expand voting rights and the ability for people to vote.
  I know that as you go around this country and you speak with people, 
Representative Swalwell, you will hear about the difficulties, 
particularly those people who are discriminated against in many ways, 
from their ability to vote.
  One of the things that I recall writing about when I was in law 
school was individuals who have been incarcerated and the ability that 
they no longer have to vote. We know that in the Black community there 
is a disproportionate amount of our young men and women who are 
incarcerated and then have lost their right to vote. The difficulties 
they have reinstating that right and that ability to vote absolutely 
excludes not only their dignity and their ability to voice their 
opinions, but they are feeling part of the American Dream, feeling 
included in this American mission. What message are we saying to them 
when they need to be reintegrated back into this country and to be 
productive citizens that they can work, we want them to work, we want 
them to do everything that they are supposed to do, but they cannot 
have that fundamental right to vote.
  These are the things that I am glad you are speaking about tonight 
and that you are making the American public available to. I don't know 
what the Twitter feed is working on right now, but I am hoping that 
people will tweet about this and will get this word out and will really 
create an echo chamber of young people, and even those who are not 
young, who are concerned about millennials and concerned about the next 
generation being able to be a part of the American process.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. I thank Delegate Plaskett. That was so 
eloquently said.
  On Twitter right now under the #futureforum, people are speaking 
about their democracy and their right to access the polls. Anna Little-
Sana tweeted: Election day should be a Federal holiday! Kel tweeted: 
Elections on Saturdays sounds like the easiest and least controversial 
solution.
  Congressman Israel, what if someone introduced the Weekend Voting 
Act? Wait, someone has, and he is here.
  Mr. ISRAEL. What a coincidence.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. Tell us about that.
  Mr. ISRAEL. What a coincidence this is.
  I want to thank my friend from California for his leadership in the 
Future Forum, traveling the country, engaging young people and 
millennials on the critical issue of participating in government. I 
don't qualify as a millennial.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. It is a mind-set.
  Mr. ISRAEL. I am slightly older than most of the audiences that you 
engage. But I used to be a millennial. I used to be a young person. I 
grew up in Levittown, New York, on Long Island. I remember going to 
public school at Gardiners Avenue Elementary School and being taught 
civics, being taught what it takes to be a good citizen, and what our 
responsibilities and obligations were.
  The principal responsibility and the principal obligation of a good 
citizen was voting. You could vote to the left, you could vote to the 
right, but vote. Now we are falling further and further behind on 
voting because it has become harder and harder.
  There is a particular Republican candidate who talks about how we 
have to make America great again. Do you know what we are not so great 
at? We are not so great at voting. In fact, we are falling further and 
further behind the rest of the industrialized world. We are falling 
further and further behind most democracies in our voting 
participation.
  Why is that well? One reason is because we reserve one day of the 
year to vote in Federal elections, and that is Tuesday. I don't know if 
my friend knows--here is a little history quiz, a little pop quiz, to 
put him on the spot: Why do we vote on that Tuesday? Do you have any 
idea why we vote on that Tuesday?
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. I don't have the slightest clue, no. Why 
do we?
  Mr. ISRAEL. Here is the answer. In 1845, Congress decided that voting 
day would be on Tuesday in November. Why? Because at the time we were 
living in a mostly agrarian society, we were a farm economy, and Sunday 
was the Lord's day. The polling places were usually in the county seat, 
so Monday was the day that you traveled to the county seat. You got to 
your county seat on Tuesday, you cast your vote, you returned on 
Wednesday, and you farmed on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. That may 
have made sense in 1845, but it doesn't make the same sense in 2016.
  As a result of reserving this one Tuesday as voting day, most 
Americans report that they didn't vote because they just couldn't vote 
on Tuesday. Some people have two jobs, three jobs, and they are raising 
families. As important as it is to be a good citizen and to cast their 
vote, they are finding it harder and harder.
  The solution is very simple. I am going to make another quick 
comment. The solution is very simple. Allow people to vote on weekends. 
Designate Saturday and Sunday for voting. You can do it on a Saturday; 
you can do it on a Sunday. But we ought to designate weekend voting.
  There are other democracies in the world, other nations in the world, 
that have weekend voting, and their voting participation is much higher 
than ours.
  If there is one thing the government should do to make it more 
convenient for middle class citizens and working families, it is make 
it more convenient to vote, and we can do that on weekends.

  Let me make one other point if I could. I made a decision that I 
would not run for reelection. My decision was based on a broad range of 
personal issues and personal considerations, personal desires, to do 
other things. I have been here for 16 years. It is time to pass the 
torch.
  But I will tell you what. One of the factors was that I could not 
stand to

[[Page H700]]

spend one more day asking one more donor for one more dollar.
  We have a system that used to be dysfunctional. Now it is not 
dysfunctional. It is just beyond broken. It is a system that tells 
people around the country that their voices are drowned out. There is a 
sense--particularly among the young people that you have engaged across 
this country--that the only way you get heard in this place is if you 
have a super-PAC or a registered lobbyist with you. Most middle class 
families and most young people can't afford a super-PAC or a registered 
lobbyist.
  I am concerned that we have a majority right now that has made 
Congress a gated community. We need to bring down those gates. The way 
to bring down those gates is to pass campaign finance reform; it is to 
pass the DISCLOSE Act, which Democrats passed when we had the majority, 
requiring that people know who are funding elections; that we pass 
weekend voting so it is easier for people to cast their votes and 
choose their democracy, so that their democracy is not chosen by 
literally a few hundred families, by passing something that our 
colleague, John Sarbanes, talked about earlier: citizen-funded 
elections.
  If you want a stake in democracy and if you want to own democracy, 
you should have a share in that democracy. We ought to be encouraging 
citizen-funded elections, which are being done in States across the 
country--Republican states, Democratic States. They are embracing 
citizen-funded elections. We should be doing the same thing.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. You wrote a New York Times op-ed on this 
that was very frank, very passionate, and I think, for a lot of people, 
very disturbing to hear how much time Members of Congress have to spend 
fundraising.
  I just want to ask you as you start your parting tour, which I am 
very sad to see, but have you met a single colleague in this Chamber on 
either side--left or right--who told you that they came here because 
they enjoyed raising money, or that that is the most enjoyable part, or 
anywhere close to the most enjoyable part of their job?
  Mr. ISRAEL. No. In fact, I did write a piece in the New York Times 
that went viral. I received responses on both sides of this aisle--on 
both sides--people saying: You are right, we spend too much time in 
call time. Instead of thinking about issues, instead of thinking about 
a robust foreign policy that is going to defeat our enemies, we spend 
too much time trying to figure out a robust fundraising policy to get 
reelected. Both sides of the aisle said that.
  Not one of our colleagues enjoy fundraising. But, in my view, there 
is only one party who is willing to do something about it. Pass the 
DISCLOSE Act, support campaign finance reform, demand transparency.
  The only way we are going to take this government back and make 
America great again is to engage voters across the spectrum by lowering 
the barriers that exist in this place. That is going to require the 
DISCLOSE Act, citizen-funded elections, greater transparency, and 
weekend voting.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. That is right. Both sides from my 
experience acknowledge this problem, but only the majority has the 
ability to bring this up for a vote on these reforms.
  I always have the sense that we can all smell the burning and the 
smoke in this House, but the fire alarm is on this side of the Chamber. 
Until our colleagues are willing to pull it and bring these issues to 
this floor, we are going to see millennials continue to think that the 
system is rigged. It is not going to be any surprise when they show up 
again at 20 to 25 percent at the polls.
  In your district in Long Island, young people, what do they think 
when they see all this money in politics, that they are the largest 
generation in America, yet 158 families contributed over 50 percent so 
far in the 2016 Presidential cycle? What do you hear from them as far 
as whether that makes them want to engage or participate?
  Mr. ISRAEL. I am very fortunate because I represent a district in New 
York that is blessed with universities and colleges. We have a 
wonderful infrastructure of university and college campuses, and I 
toured those campuses and heard what you have heard: Congressman, my 
voice doesn't count. Congressman, why should I vote when it makes no 
difference? Congressman, why should I get involved in a campaign when 
my $20 contribution, or my $3 contribution, gets drowned out by one 
billionaire who is writing checks for millions of dollars for the 
candidate that he supports?
  I have said to my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, it is bad 
for all of us when an entire generation gives up on us. That is just 
bad for democracy. That is bad for trying to accomplish anything.
  I have also said--and people understand this, I believe, 
intuitively--no matter what issue is important to you, no matter what 
it is--more investments in education or infrastructure or national 
security or your paycheck or the environment--no matter what it is, it 
is all rooted in a system that doesn't allow progress on those issues 
because it is rigged against progress on those issues.
  People say: Well, what can we do? What is the one thing we can do to 
get our voice back? Get this Congress to pass fundamental and 
meaningful campaign reform and we will make progress on every other 
issue.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. I will never forget at one of our 
townhalls when we were in the Boston area. The students were listing 
their concerns from climate change and the inaction they have seen 
there, to student loan debt and how it has them in financial quicksand. 
To my surprise--and then I ended up seeing this on every campus we 
visited--this particular student said: But, yeah, you are not going to 
solve any of that because the system is rigged. As long as that is the 
perception, which we experience as our own reality, we won't see 
progress on those issues.
  We owe it to that generation. It is sad for you to acknowledge that a 
whole generation is about to give up on us until we change the way that 
we not only have rules for money and politics, but the way that we 
govern and represent our constituents, not outside corporate interests.
  We have a Future Forum event coming up in Denver. It is going to be 
in April, hosted by Congresswoman DeGette and Congressman Polis.
  I will give you, Congressman Israel, the last word on this evening's 
Future Forum focusing on voting rights and campaign financial reform.

                              {time}  1830

  Mr. ISRAEL. Again, I thank the gentleman so much for his leadership.
  If you would allow an aging 57-year-old to attend the Future Forum 
meetings, I would be happy to do so. I will bring my crutch, my cane, 
and all of the other things that I need.
  On a serious note, I really do want to commend you for the work that 
you are doing, for the engagement. Through this engagement, you are 
giving people hope. You are letting people know that there are people 
who are listening to them. You go to those events without a super-PAC. 
You go to those events without billionaire donors. You are representing 
the best that the grassroots has to offer. I want to thank you for 
that.
  Leave people with a sense of hope. For as long as we are talking on 
this floor about these issues, there is hope that something will be 
done on this floor on these issues, and the middle class and young 
people and millennials will make progress again.
  Mr. SWALWELL of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of 
my time.

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