[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 195 (Tuesday, November 17, 2020)]
[House]
[Page H5801]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
  CONGRESS IS THE FINAL ARBITER OF ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTE SUBMISSIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Brooks) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROOKS of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, this is the first in a series of 
House floor speeches by me on the recent Presidential election.
  Some believe the Supreme Court decides who wins Presidential 
elections. That is wrong. While the Supreme Court has a significant 
judicial role in the Presidential election process, the United States 
Constitution and Federal law make Congress, not the Supreme Court, the 
judge of who wins Presidential elections.
  Congress must first accept or reject State submissions of electoral 
college votes. Thereafter, if no candidate wins an electoral college 
vote majority, Congress, not the Supreme Court, votes on and elects the 
next President and Vice President of the United States.
  The Constitution's 12th Amendment requires States to submit their 
electoral college votes to Congress, thereby triggering United States 
Code title 3, section 15, which requires that:
  First, Congress shall meet January 6 following the election at 1 p.m. 
to receive States' electoral college vote submissions.
  Second, the Senate President presides over all proceedings.
  Third, each State's electoral college submissions shall be opened, 
presented, and acted upon in alphabetical order, beginning with the 
letter A.
  Fourth, the Senate President shall receive and publicly announce each 
State's electoral college vote.
  Fifth, the Senate President shall call for objections, if any. 
Objections must be in writing and clearly and concisely state, without 
argument, the objection grounds. Further, each objection must be signed 
by at least one Senator and one Congressman or be disallowed.
  Sixth, the Senate and House shall then separate, and each body shall 
then decide whether to accept or reject electoral college votes that 
have been properly objected to.
  Finally, if the House and Senate both vote to reject a State's 
electoral college vote submission, those electoral college votes shall 
not be counted in the election of the President and Vice President.
  United States Code title 3, section 17, adds that the Senate and 
House votes to accept or reject electoral college votes must occur 
immediately after no more than 2 hours of floor debate.
  This process has been used in the past to challenge States' electoral 
college votes.
  For example, in 2005, Democrat Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones 
and Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer jointly objected to acceptance of 
Ohio's electoral college votes for Republican President George Bush 
after Ohio election officials certified that George Bush won Ohio by 
almost 120,000 votes.
  Similarly, in 2017, numerous Democrat Congressmen objected to all the 
electoral college votes for Republican Presidential candidate Donald J. 
Trump from the States of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Texas, 
North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. 
These objections failed for lack of a Senate cosponsor.
  In sum, the United States Constitution and Federal law mandate that, 
on January 6, 2021, Congress must decide whether to accept or reject 
States' submissions of electoral college votes for President.
  If a Congressman and Senator jointly object, then the full House and 
full Senate must each vote on whether to accept or reject a State's 
electoral college vote submission. That vote by Congress is final, 
determinative, and nonreviewable. If a State's electoral college votes 
are rejected, then those electoral college votes are excluded from 
candidate totals.
  My second speech in this series covers what happens if, because of 
rejected electoral college votes, neither candidate has the majority of 
electoral college votes needed to be elected President of the United 
States.

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