[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 4 (Wednesday, January 6, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E18]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  OBJECTING TO CERTAIN ELECTORAL VOTES

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. RANDY K. WEBER, SR.

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, January 6, 2021

  Mr. WEBER of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today to voice my concerns 
regarding the irregularities and improprieties in the 2020 General 
Election. As I have said time and time again, the American people 
deserve to have full faith in our elections. The numerous votes cast by 
mail this year--due to the pandemic--have been plagued by allegations 
of fraud and wrongdoing. I watched with great concern as President 
Trump's legal team brought forth witnesses, sworn affidavits, and reams 
of legitimate evidence to courts in various states. There are 
countless, incontestable examples wherein governors, election 
officials, and judges altered states' election procedures in clear 
violation of Article II of the U.S. Constitution. Article II grants 
state legislatures--and only the state legislatures--the explicit power 
to determine the manner of appointing presidential electors.
  In keeping with this constitutional responsibility, state 
legislatures have established detailed rules by which that state's 
electoral process and appointment of presidential electors should be 
conducted. However, in the months before the 2020 election, it is 
undeniable that--in several key states--either state court judges or 
state executive officials acted deliberately to fundamentally change 
state election law, usurping the state legislature's express authority 
under the Constitution.
  In violation of the Constitution and with full knowledge of mail-in 
voting vulnerabilities, state officials, activists, and Democrat-led 
lawsuits in numerous states opened our electoral processes to fraud and 
abuse. The sheer volume of mail-in voting alone triggered not just 
administrative errors and clerical mistakes but actual election crimes.
  As an alumnus of the Texas House of Representatives, I understand and 
guard zealously the prerogatives of state legislatures. As such, I feel 
strongly that the Supreme Court should have upheld the authority of 
those legislatures to establish the manner of appointing electors. 
Moreover, it was incumbent upon the court to determine the 
constitutional validity of any ballots that were cast under rules and 
procedures established by entities other than state legislatures.
  Put bluntly, the usurpation of legislative power in several states 
produced unconstitutional ballots. As we asserted in our amicus brief 
that accompanied the Texas case, any state executive or judicial 
attempt to determine the manner of choosing electors-especially any 
attempt that directly contradicts the will of the state legislature--is 
void ab initio (``from the beginning'').
  Regrettably, on December 11th, SCOTUS denied Texas' motion for lack 
of standing, without ruling on the merits of the case or the questions 
of fact therein. However, Justice Samuel Alito, joined by Justice 
Clarence Thomas, disagreed with the high court's ruling, writing that, 
``In my view, we do not have discretion to deny the filing of a bill of 
complaint in a case that falls within our original jurisdiction . . . I 
would therefore grant the motion to file the bill of complaint . . . '' 
I, too, believe that the Supreme Court got it wrong. That highest court 
has original jurisdiction over, specifically, suits involving two or 
more states.
  Today, we the Congress--on behalf of ``We The People''--will exercise 
our constitutional duty as the final judge, jury, and arbiter of all 
contested congressional, senatorial, and presidential elections. The 
legitimacy of our republic rests on the foundation that our elections--
whether for President of the United States or any other office--are 
transparent, fairly administered, and above board. With the undeniable 
knowledge of illegal changes to various state election laws, enacted by 
parties other than the respective state legislatures, we (the Congress) 
constitute the last line of defense in ensuring the trust of our 
citizens in the integrity of their ballots.
  Every single member of Congress swore an oath to uphold the 
Constitution of the United States of America. Our constitutional 
republic has endured for nearly-two and a half centuries based on the 
consent of the governed. That consent is grounded in the confidence of 
our people in the legitimacy of our institutions of government, the 
most fundamental being free and fair elections. The erosion of that 
foundation jeopardizes the stability of the republic.
  I will therefore join my colleagues today in objecting to counting 
the electoral votes of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, 
Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, to restore the integrity of our electoral 
process.

                          ____________________