[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 164 (Wednesday, November 16, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Page S6387]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ELECTORAL COLLEGE
Mr. REID. Mr. President, election day was tough for a lot of
Americans. To say things didn't go the way we wanted on this side of
the aisle would be a gross understatement. America is still reeling
from this, and there will be even more concern in a few days when the
final vote tally comes because Hillary Clinton will have gotten more
than 2 million votes more than Donald Trump.
So I think it speaks volumes that a Democratic Senator entered
legislation yesterday that will take a look at the electoral college
system. This should not be a partisan issue. It should be an issue that
committees of jurisdiction in this body take a look at. Let's listen to
some experts talk about it and find out if the system is working very
well. It was set up a long time ago, and maybe it should be changed.
So, I think it is something we need to take a look at.
It is interesting that just in the last few years--in this century--
we have had two winners of elections that got less votes than the
losers. I am sorry. We have two elections this century where the losers
got more votes than the winners. So we need to take a look at that, and
so I hope something is done on a bipartisan basis because no one knows
what is going to happen 4 years from now, 8 years from now, 12 years
from now. It is something that should be looked at. It is very
important for us as a country to take another look at the electoral
college system.
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