[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 20 (Thursday, January 31, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S776]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                                 H.R. 1

  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, on a totally different matter, 
earlier this week I began discussing H.R. 1. This is the House 
Democrats' marquee bill for the new Congress.
  I have stated this week that it really adds up to one big expensive 
partisan power grab, an effort to centralize more control over 
America's speech and America's voting here in Washington--the 
``Democratic Politician Protection Act.'' I am pleased that people are 
beginning to pay attention to this monstrosity--a monstrosity.
  Today I want to focus on how the power grab would affect our 
elections because when Washington politicians suddenly decide their top 
priority is grabbing unprecedented control over how they get elected 
and sent to Washington in the first place, alarm bells should start 
ringing all over this place.
  After all, article I, section IV of the Constitution clearly gives--
clearly gives--State legislatures primary responsibility for ``the 
Times, Places, and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and 
Representatives.''
  There are times in American history when it has come to that. There 
have been times when our Nation has needed the Federal Government to 
get involved to expand and protect the franchise or to respond to a 
national emergency, for examples, bills like the Voting Rights Act, 
which secured the franchise for African Americans, or the Help America 
Vote Act, which provided guideposts--guideposts--to prevent a crisis 
like the Bush v. Gore recount from occurring a second time.
  So what is the alleged crisis now? What is the alleged crisis now, in 
2019, that has House Democrats calling for an unprecedented Federal 
takeover of elections across our country? Why is this Democratic bill--
which would create more Federal Government mandates over the minutia of 
the election process than has ever been done in the past--necessary 
now?
  The year 2016 saw the most ballots ever cast in a Presidential 
election in American history. Now, with population growth, that isn't 
entirely surprising, but the turnout rate was the third highest since 
1968. So people are voting in great numbers.
  Let's look at the 2018 midterms--the highest midterm turnout in 50 
years. People voted in the midterms.
  Listen to what Americans themselves had to say about their 
experience. After the election, 92 percent--92 percent--of surveyed 
voters told the Pew Research Center their voting experience was ``very 
easy'' or ``somewhat easy''--92 percent--very easy or somewhat easy to 
vote. Regardless of when they voted and how they voted, huge majorities 
communicated that they had no real trouble--no real trouble--casting 
their ballots. No trouble.
  My Democratic friends seem to be implying there is a supposed crisis 
here that conveniently is not rooted in the facts or in the opinions of 
American voters.
  There is no objective basis for the sweeping Federal takeover of 
elections that House Democrats have dreamed up. There is no emergency. 
It is just a Washington power grab for its very own sake.
  Decision after decision that our Constitution properly leaves to the 
States just melts away in this proposal. Practically every variable of 
any consequence to American elections gets a top-down mandate written 
by whom? Why, the Democrats, of course.
  Could States require a signature to vote under the Democrats' bill? 
Only if they accept a computerized mark, making that signature 
requirement about as serious as clicking one checkbox on a website.
  What if States and localities want to make sure that ineligible 
voters under the age of 18 don't end up on the voter rolls or decide 
whether or how convicted felons have their voting rights restored? 
Well, under the ``Democratic Politician Protection Act,'' States have 
no choice in the matter.
  How many early days of voting should there be? Do polls need to be 
open on Sundays? What is the best way to make absentee ballots 
available? When can early voting take place, and how long and where 
should the polling places be located?
  Different States and communities have come to different legitimate 
judgments on all of these questions. It is a core part of our 
constitutional system, and the decentralization of our election process 
leads to a more democratic system with more direct impact on the 
elections of those decision makers.
  The United States of America has never been about centralizing all 
power in Washington, and Washington should not get to micromanage the 
processes that determine who comes to Washington.
  But, alas, House Democrats don't seem to care if their partisan power 
grab upsets this constitutional balance. These Representatives even--
get this--want the Federal Government to dictate to States how their 
very own congressional districts will be drawn. They want the Federal 
Government to tell the States how to draw their congressional 
districts.
  Right now, there is a competition of ideas among the States about the 
best way to handle this. Different places arrive at different answers.
  Naturally, House Democrats have a different idea. They want to force 
every State to use a commission that is designed by them--by Washington 
Democrats. Every State will have to use a commission designed by 
Washington Democrats whose structure and procedures are prescribed, of 
course, by Washington Democrats. If a State doesn't know how to bow to 
their will, then the DC Federal court will make the decisions that have 
been reserved for the State legislatures going back to our Nation's 
founding.
  I know it is not fashionable on the far left to praise the wisdom of 
our constitutional structure. It seems to be out of fashion. I am sure 
that in some corners I will be derided for referencing the Constitution 
at all. They will say: How could it still be relevant after all these 
years?
  Of course, this thinking shows exactly why our founding principles 
are so important.
  Our Constitution is there to protect our liberties and protect our 
form of government from the whim of whoever happens to be currently in 
power. These guardrails exist to stop things like a narrow partisan 
majority in the House of Representatives grabbing control of election 
laws just to benefit themselves politically. We need to stand with 
Alexander Hamilton and our Constitution, not with the House Democrats' 
partisan power grab.

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