[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 105 (Wednesday, June 16, 2021)]
[House]
[Pages H2824-H2825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                URGING SENATE TO PASS FOR THE PEOPLE ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Illinois (Ms. Underwood) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. UNDERWOOD. Madam Speaker, I rise today to urge the Senate to pass 
the For the People Act, or H.R. 1.
  This urgently needed legislation would fight corruption and the 
overwhelming influence of money in politics by strengthening ethics 
rules and reforming our campaign finance system.
  It would protect the foundation of our democracy, the right to vote, 
at a time when it is under attack in many States.
  I am proud that my home State of Illinois is not one of them. In 
fact, our legislature recently voted to expand ballot access. But for 
those who aren't lucky enough to live in Illinois, H.R. 1 is a much-
needed defense against widespread voter suppression.
  As the Senate considers these long-overdue reforms, I rise today, 
here in the House of Representatives, to insist that representation 
matters.
  That is Congress' role in our representative democracy: to represent 
the American people. If the Members elected to this Chamber don't 
represent the diversity of the American people's backgrounds and their 
experiences, we can't do a good job of representing their perspectives 
and advocating for their needs.
  Consider that women make up just over a quarter of the 117th 
Congress, and that is the highest percentage it has ever been. We see 
the effects of this lack of diversity in the way our government works 
for women, or, rather, the fact that it doesn't work for women.
  Women have been hit harder than men by job loss during the pandemic. 
This is partly because women still do more childcare than men, and the 
pandemic triggered a childcare crisis. But this doesn't come out of 
nowhere. It is a result of chronic failure to address areas that 
disproportionately impact women.
  Because women haven't had a seat at the table, our needs have been 
sidelined. As a result, everybody loses, not just women. All Americans 
are part of an economy that depends on childcare to function.
  It is no coincidence that the Biden-Harris administration's bold plan 
to invest in human infrastructure comes just months after our first 
female Vice President was sworn in. This is just one of many instances 
in which everybody benefits when different perspectives and life 
experiences are represented in our elected leadership.
  When we talk about candidate diversity, we are talking about growing 
our economy, improving childcare, and strengthening our infrastructure. 
Good policy starts with good representation.
  H.R. 1 will give Americans the government we deserve by enabling us 
to elect people who truly represent us.
  One of the most important provisions in the bill for improving 
representation is the creation of a small-donor public financing 
program.

                              {time}  1030

  In the States and cities where it is already in use, public financing 
is popular because it empowers candidates to get their message out to 
voters, even if

[[Page H2825]]

they don't have deep pockets or corporate connections.
  But the Brennan Center for Justice found that public financing 
doesn't just increase the socioeconomic diversity of candidates for 
public office, it also boosts racial and gender diversity.
  That is why I introduced an amendment to H.R. 1 to include an 
assessment of the impact on candidate diversity in the required report 
to Congress on the new public financing program, and I am grateful that 
my colleagues voted to pass my amendment.
  This is personal for me because I firmly believe that we can have a 
Congress that looks like America if we just give people a fair shot.
  I became the first woman and the first person of color to represent 
my district because I refused to be counted out as unelectable in my 
own community. I know that women and people of color are electable 
everywhere. No seat in Congress should be deemed out of reach for 
certain types of candidates.
  When everybody has a fair shot, all candidates are electable, and 
small donor public financing gives people that fair shot. Small donor 
public financing and the other crucial reforms in H.R. 1 would make our 
representative democracy both more representative and more democratic. 
In other words, it would make America more American, aligning our 
system of government with our highest national values.
  So I urge my colleagues in the Senate to pass the For the People Act 
with the small donor public financing program intact and help America 
live up to our values.

                          ____________________