[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 40 (Wednesday, March 6, 2019)]
[House]
[Page H2378]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS

  (Mr. MOULTON asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MOULTON. Mr. Speaker, amidst the tragedies of the Iraq war, I 
witnessed one of the proudest demonstrations of democracy in modern 
times. When Iraqis voted for the first time, they dipped their fingers 
in ink and, rather than hiding those fingers for fear of reprisal, they 
held them high walking through the streets.
  What they were saying was that, for the first time in their lives, 
their opinion mattered. Their vote counted. It is the most fundamental 
requirement of a democracy. Yet, today, we know that this basic right 
has never been truly guaranteed here at home.
  Our elections are not free when Americans must choose between 
providing for their families and casting a vote; our elections are not 
fair when gerrymandering predetermines them or dark money makes some 
votes count more than others; and our people do not have a voice when 
they are turned away by voter ID laws that make it easier to buy a gun 
than cast a vote.
  H.R. 1 changes that, taking a stand against Citizens United, 
resolving to end gerrymandering, and making it far easier for Americans 
to vote.
  I believe that America, however imperfect, is the greatest democracy 
on Earth. H.R. 1 finally makes us act that way.

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