[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 158 (Thursday, September 29, 2022)]
[House]
[Pages H8230-H8235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY FOR VOTING ACCESS PROGRAM INCLUSION ACT
Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1396, I call
up the bill (S. 3969) to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to
explicitly authorize distribution of grant funds to the voting
accessibility protection and advocacy system of the Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands and the system serving the American Indian
consortium, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate
consideration in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 1396, the bill
is considered read.
The text of the bill is as follows:
S. 3969
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protection and Advocacy for
Voting Access Program Inclusion Act'' or the ``PAVA Program
Inclusion Act''.
SEC. 2. AUTHORIZING PAYMENTS TO VOTING ACCESSIBILITY
PROTECTION AND ADVOCACY SYSTEMS SERVING THE
COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS
AND THE AMERICAN INDIAN CONSORTIUM.
(a) Recipients Defined.--Section 291 of the Help America
Vote Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21061) is amended--
(1) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d); and
(2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following new
subsection:
``(c) Eligible Grant Recipients.--
``(1) Definition of state.--For the purposes of this
section, the term `State' shall have the meaning given such
term in section 102 of the Developmental Disabilities
Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15002).
``(2) American indian consortium eligible.--A system
serving the American Indian consortium for which funds have
been reserved under section 509(c)(1)(B) of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794e(c)(1)(B)) shall be
eligible for payments under subsection (a) in the same manner
as a protection and advocacy system of a State.''.
(b) Grant Minimums for American Indian Consortium.--Section
291(b) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21061(b)) is amended--
(1) by inserting ``(c)(1)(B),'' after ``as set forth in
subsections''; and
(2) by striking ``subsections (c)(3)(B) and (c)(4)(B) of
that section shall be not less than $70,000 and $35,000,
respectively.'' and inserting the following: ``subsection
(c)(3)(B) shall not be less than $70,000, and the amount of
the grants to systems referred to in subsections (c)(1)(B)
and (c)(4) shall not be less than $35,000.''.
SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.
The amendments made by section 2 shall take effect at the
start of the first fiscal year starting after the date of the
enactment of this Act.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill shall be debatable for 1 hour
equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member
on the Committee on House Administration or their respective designees.
The gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren) and the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Rodney Davis) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lofgren).
General Leave
Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and include extraneous material on S. 3969 in the Record.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from California?
There was no objection.
Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
I rise in strong support of S. 3969, the PAVA Program Inclusion Act.
The bill before us today is a bipartisan, bicameral piece of
legislation that makes an important technical correction in the Help
America Vote Act's Protection and Advocacy for Voting Access, or PAVA,
program to explicitly include the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana
Islands and the
[[Page H8231]]
system serving the American Indian consortium as eligible recipients of
PAVA funding.
When Congress passed the Help America Vote Act in 2002, it made
significant changes to the country's voting process, addressing needed
improvements to voting systems and voter access identified in the wake
of the 2000 election. Since its enactment, Congress has provided
billions of dollars under HAVA to help States improve voters' access to
the ballot, including hundreds of millions of dollars in election
security funds over fiscal years 2018, 2020, and 2022 and $400 million
under the CARES Act to help voters access the ballot during the COVID-
19 pandemic.
Amongst the numerous changes made, HAVA recognized the unique
obstacles persons with disabilities face at the polls, authorizing
funding for the Protection and Advocacy for Voting Access program,
otherwise known as PAVA. The PAVA program funds activities aimed at
increasing access to the polls and the ballot for voters with
disabilities, ensuring they have access to all aspects of the voting
process, and awarding funding to eligible protection and advocacy
systems across the country.
Since HAVA's enactment, the millions of dollars in funding allocated
under the PAVA program allows protection and advocacy systems across
the country to conduct activities such as disability training for poll
workers, maintaining voting hotlines, examining polling places for
accessibility, and even more.
There are 57 protection and advocacy systems across the 50 States,
the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam,
American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands,
as well as the American Indian consortium. The P&A affiliated with the
American Indian consortium serves Native Americans with disabilities in
the Four Corners region of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah.
P&As are federally mandated and protect the rights of persons with
disabilities through legally based advocacy. Unfortunately, HAVA's
definition excluded the protection and advocacy systems serving the
Northern Mariana Islands and the American Indian consortium serving the
Four Corners region. I don't think we intended that, and this bill
fixes that.
Reintroduced this Congress by our colleague, Representative Ruben
Gallego of Arizona, and our former House colleague, Senator Ben Ray
Lujan of New Mexico, S. 3969 puts the P&As serving the Northern Mariana
Islands and the American Indian consortium on equal footing with all 55
other P&As. It does so without changing the program's overall
authorization level or other elements of the program.
Fixing this oversight will help ensure all voters with disabilities,
regardless of where they live, can fully participate in the electoral
process.
Mr. Speaker, I include in the Record a letter signed by all 57
protection and advocacy systems expressing support for the bill, as
well as a letter of support from the National Disability Rights Network
and a letter from the designated protection and advocacy systems in
California and Illinois, all supporting this bill's package.
January 28, 2020.
Representative Zoe Lofgren,
Chairwoman, House Administration Committee, Washington, DC.
Representative Rodney Davis,
Ranking Member, House Administration Committee, Washington,
DC.
Dear Chairwoman Lofgren and Ranking Member Davis: The
undersigned 57 Protection and Advocacy (P&A) Systems write
today to express our support to amend the Help America Vote
Act (HAVA) to explicitly authorize the distribution of
Protection and Advocacy for Voting Access (PAVA) program
funds to the Northern Mariana Islands and the American Indian
Consortium P&As.
P&A systems are federally mandated, and pursue legal,
administrative, and other appropriate remedies under all
applicable federal and state laws to protect and advocate for
the rights of people with disabilities. There are a total of
57 P&As operating in every state, the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Territories (American Samoa, Guam,
Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands). There
is also a P&A affiliated with the American Indian Consortium
serving Native Americans with disabilities in the Four
Corners region of the Southwest.
In 2002, Congress passed HAVA acknowledging the unique
obstacles people with disabilities face at the polls, and
authorized funding for the PAVA program. The PAVA program
allows P&As to advocate on behalf of voters with disabilities
to ensure that they have access to all aspects of the
American voting process. PAVA program funds allow P&As to
conduct disability training to poll workers, distribute
resources on how to conduct an accessible campaign, maintain
voting hotlines, examine polling places for accessibility,
and much more throughout the year.
PAVA program funding is currently awarded to ``eligible''
P&As across the country. Unfortunately, because HAVA includes
specific language about ``states'' only 55 out of the 57 P&As
are currently eligible for PAVA program funding. The Northern
Mariana Islands and the American Indian Consortium P&As do
not receive PAVA funding since they are not considered states
and therefore have been ineligible for PAVA funding since
HAVA passed.
It was always the intent for all 57 P&As to participate in
the PAVA program. Thus, we support Congress passing
legislation that would provide a long overdue technical fix
explicitly authorizing the distribution of grant funds to the
Northern Mariana Islands and American Indian Consortium P&As.
Thank you for your work on this important topic and
consideration of a technical fix.
Sincerely,
AK, Disability Law Center of Alaska.
AL, Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program (ADAP).
AR, Disability Rights Arkansas, Inc.
AS, Office of Protection and Advocacy for Persons with
Disabilities.
AZ, Arizona Center for Disability Law.
CA, Disability Rights California.
CO, Center for Legal Advocacy d/b/a Disability Law
Colorado.
CT, Disability Rights Connecticut.
DC, University Legal Services/Disability Rights D.C.
DE, Community Legal Aid Society, Inc.
FL, Disability Rights Florida.
GA, Georgia Advocacy Office.
GU, Guam Legal Services Corporation-Disability Law Center.
HI, Hawaii Disability Rights Center.
IA, Disability Rights Iowa.
ID, Disability Rights Idaho.
IL, Equip for Equality.
IN, Indiana Disability Rights/Indiana Protection & Advocacy
Services.
KS, Disability Rights Center of Kansas.
KY, Kentucky Protection & Advocacy.
LA, Advocacy Center.
MA, Disability Law Center.
MD, Disability Rights Maryland.
ME, Disability Rights Maine.
MI, Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service, Inc.
MN, Minnesota Disability Law Center.
MO, Missouri Protection & Advocacy Services.
MP, Northern Marianas Protection and Advocacy System.
MS, Disability Rights Mississippi.
MT, Disability Rights Montana.
NA, Native American Disability Law Center.
NC, Disability Rights North Carolina.
ND, North Dakota Protection & Advocacy Project.
NE, Disability Rights Nebraska (formerly Nebraska Advocacy
Services).
NH, Disability Rights Center--NH.
NJ, Disability Rights New Jersey.
NM, Disability Rights New Mexico.
NV, Nevada Disability Advocacy and Law Center.
NY, Disability Rights New York.
OH, Disability Rights Ohio.
OK, Oklahoma Disability Law Center, Inc.
OR, Disability Rights Oregon.
PA, Disability Rights Pennsylvania.
PR, Executive Office of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
RI, Disability Rights Rhode Island.
SC, Protection & Advocacy for People with Disabilities,
Inc.
SD, Disability Rights South Dakota d/b/a South Dakota
Advocacy Services.
TN, Disability Rights Tennessee.
TX, Disability Rights Texas.
UT, Disability Law Center.
VA, disAbility Law Center of Virginia.
VI, Disability Rights Center of the Virgin Islands.
VT, Disability Rights Vermont.
WA, Disability Rights Washington
WI, Disability Rights Wisconsin.
WV, Disability Rights of WV.
WY, Wyoming Protection & Advocacy System, Inc.
____
National Disability
Rights Network,
Washington, DC, May 11, 2022.
Hon. Zoe Lofgren,
Chair, Committee on House Administration, Washington, DC.
Hon. Rodney Davis,
Ranking Member, Committee on House Administration,
Washington, DC.
Dear Chair Lofgren and Ranking Member Davis: On behalf of
the nationwide network of Protection and Advocacy (P&A)
agencies we represent, The National Disability Rights Network
(NDRN) writes today to strongly urge that the full House
swiftly pass S. 3969, the Protection and Advocacy for Voting
Access (PAVA) Inclusion Act which passed the Senate
unanimously on March 30.
P&A systems are federally mandated, and pursue legal,
administrative, and other appropriate remedies under all
applicable federal and state laws to protect and advocate
[[Page H8232]]
for the rights of people with disabilities. There are 57 P&As
operating in every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto
Rico, and the U.S. Territories (American Samoa, Guam,
Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands). There
is also a P&A affiliated with the American Indian Consortium
serving Native Americans with disabilities in the Four
Corners region of the Southwest.
In 2002, Congress passed HAVA acknowledging the unique
obstacles people with disabilities face at the polls, and
authorized funding for the PAVA program. The PAVA program
allows P&As to advocate on behalf of voters with disabilities
to ensure that they have access to all aspects of the
American voting process. PAVA program funds allow P&As to
conduct disability training to poll workers, distribute
resources on how to conduct an accessible campaign, maintain
voting hotlines, examine polling places for accessibility,
and much more throughout the year.
PAVA program funding is currently awarded to ``eligible''
P&As across the country. Unfortunately, because HAVA included
specific language about ``states'' only 55 out of the 57 P&As
are currently eligible for PAVA funding. The Northern Mariana
Islands and the American Indian Consortium P&As do not
receive PAVA funding since they are not considered states and
therefore have been ineligible for PAVA funding since HAVA
passed.
NDRN has expressed the crucial need for the enactment of
the PAVA Inclusion Act on multiple occasions, including in
written and spoken testimony before House committees.
Additionally, all 57 P&As signed a 2020 letter of support for
this legislation to both the Chair and Ranking Member of the
Committee on House Administration. Most recently, in a Report
of the Interagencv Steering Group on Native American Voting
was published by the White House, calling on policymakers to
``consider revisiting that limitation, to ensure that these
entities can also equitably access HAVA funds to serve voters
with disabilities in their areas''.
It was always the intent for all 57 P&As to participate in
the PAVA program. Thus, we support the House passing S. 3969,
which would provide a long overdue technical fix to
explicitly authorize the distribution of grant funds to the
Northern Mariana Islands and American Indian Consortium P&As.
Thank you for all your work on protecting the rights of
people with disabilities to vote privately and independently.
Sincerely,
Curt Decker, J.D.,
Executive Director.
____
September 19, 2022.
Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
Speaker, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Kevin McCarthy,
Minority Leader, House of Representatives, Washington, DC.
Hon. Zoe Lofgren,
Chair, Committee on House Administration, Washington, DC.
Hon. Rodney Davis,
Ranking Member, Committee on House Administration,
Washington, DC.
Dear Speaker Pelosi, Minority Leader McCarthy, Chair
Lofgren, and Ranking Member Davis: On behalf of Disability
Rights California and Equip for Equality, the designated
Protection and Advocacy (P&A) systems in California and
Illinois, we write to strongly urge that the full House
swiftly pass S. 3969, the Protection and Advocacy for Voting
Access (PAVA) Inclusion Act which passed the Senate
unanimously on March 30.
In 2002, Congress passed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA)
acknowledging the unique obstacles people with disabilities
face at the polls, and authorized funding for the PAVA
program. The PAVA program allows P&As to advocate on behalf
of voters with disabilities to ensure that they have access
to all aspects of the American voting process. PAVA program
funds allow P&As to conduct disability training to poll
workers, distribute resources on how to conduct an accessible
campaign, maintain voting hotlines, examine polling places
for accessibility, and much more throughout the year.
PAVA program funding is currently awarded to ``eligible''
P&As across the country. Unfortunately, because HAVA included
specific language about ``states'' only 55 out of the 57 P&As
are currently eligible for PAVA funding. The Northern Mariana
Islands and the American Indian Consortium P&As do not
receive PAVA funding since they are not considered states and
therefore have been ineligible for PAVA funding since HAVA
passed.
It was always the intent for all 57 P&As to participate in
the PAVA program. Thus, we support the House passing S. 3969,
which would provide a long overdue technical fix to
explicitly authorize the distribution of grant funds to the
Northern Mariana Islands and American Indian Consortium P&As.
Thank you for all your work on protecting the rights of
people with disabilities to vote privately and independently.
Sincerely,
Andrew J. Imparato,
Executive Director,
Disability Rights California.
Cheryl Jansen,
Director, Public Policy,
Equip for Equality.
Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, language making this correction has passed
the House twice this Congress in other legislation, and it should be
enacted into law.
The Senate passed this bill by unanimous consent in March, and
passing it in the House today will ensure that it will go to the
President's desk to become law.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time
as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, it is a different day here on the House floor for a
debate over a bill with Committee on House Administration jurisdiction.
I once again agree with the majority that this is a good piece of
legislation, albeit I was a little concerned when my colleague just
mentioned that officials in California and Illinois support this bill.
I had to take a step back and realize, well, maybe I will talk to my
team about who those officials are before I offer my wholehearted
support.
But in all seriousness, Mr. Speaker, as part of the Help America Vote
Act created in 2002, Congress authorized funding for the Protection and
Advocacy for Voting Access program to help ensure every eligible
American, regardless of their abilities, can participate in the
election process and cast their ballot privately and independently.
Funds for the PAVA program are currently allocated to only 55 of 57
legally established protection and advocacy systems across the country.
The bill today makes an important correction to ensure that both the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the American Indian
consortium are included as eligible recipients for the first time.
This bill, as mentioned by my colleague, sponsored by my good friend,
Senator Roy Blunt, passed the Senate by unanimous consent, and
Republicans on the Committee on House Administration are supportive of
these changes and have no issues with the bill.
To be honest, I am somewhat disappointed that my colleagues in the
majority on the Committee on House Administration have chosen not to
pass this bill under suspension. For months, our staffs have been
working together to pair the PAVA Program Inclusion Act with H.R. 8517,
the Confirmation of Congressional Observer Access Act, a
noncontroversial bill brought forward by Subcommittee on Elections
Ranking Member Bryan Steil.
Both bills make nonpartisan, noncontroversial amendments to HAVA. Mr.
Steil's bill doesn't change Federal law or practice but simply provides
a citation of convenience for existing law that gives the House
authority to deploy official observers to watch the conduct of
congressional elections in the States and territories.
Both Democrats and Republicans have long deployed House staff as
election observers to monitor congressional elections. Sometimes, our
observers have had access difficulties, including in a widely
publicized event in Maricopa County, Arizona, 2 years ago.
So, we listened when many State and local election officials asked
Congress to speak more clearly about this constitutional exercise so
they can more readily provide access for our observers, which is why
our committee staffs had agreed in principle to move both bills
together.
That was until just a few weeks ago when the Democrats' staff said
they had issues. But when my staff reached out, they couldn't say what
those issues were and met my staff with silence.
We gave Democrats another opportunity to bring these bills up
together during Rules Committee earlier this week when Mr. Steil
offered an amendment to include his election observer bill, but it was
rejected along party lines.
Now, we are here on the House floor talking about a bill that should
have passed under suspension alongside Congressman Steil's commonsense
bill to ensure integrity and faith in our elections.
While I will support the bill before us today, I urge my Democrat
colleagues in the majority to quickly bring forward the Confirmation of
Congressional Observer Access Act for a vote, as well.
I was encouraged by comments earlier this week at the Committee on
[[Page H8233]]
Rules by my good friend, the chair of the Subcommittee on Elections,
Congressman G.K. Butterfield, about Mr. Steil's good piece of
legislation and continue to hope we can work together on a bipartisan
basis to make it law.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Arizona (Mr. Gallego), the proponent of this legislation.
Mr. GALLEGO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote
``yes'' on my and Senator Lujan's bill, the PAVA Program Inclusion Act.
This bill is based on a simple principle that every American should
have equal access to vote, no matter where they are from.
S. 3969 makes a long-overdue fix to the Protection and Advocacy for
Voting Access program to improve voting access for Native and rural
voters with disabilities in Arizona, the Four Corners region, and the
Northern Mariana Islands.
The PAVA program was first passed 20 years ago to break down barriers
that Americans with disabilities face while exercising the most sacred
right of all Americans, the right to vote. This program improves ADA
compliance at polling locations, voting procedures for blind or deaf
Americans, and training for poll workers to help Americans with
disabilities cast their votes.
Unfortunately, due to an oversight in the original Help America Vote
Act, voters with disabilities in the Northern Mariana Islands and in
the rural, largely Tribal Four Corners region of Arizona, New Mexico,
Utah, and Colorado were not included in this critical program.
That means for years, Americans with disabilities living in these
regions have not received the investments they need to ensure they can
access the ballot.
That is especially hard in northeast Arizona, which is largely Indian
Country, where voters already often travel hours to get to the polling
location, sometimes to find that it is not accessible to them. That
must change.
This bill is a necessary step to bring resources to Native and other
rural voters with disabilities who are trying to do their civic duty.
Mr. Speaker, I strongly urge all of my colleagues, Republican and
Democrat, to vote ``yes'' and reaffirm the importance of voting access
to everyone in our democracy.
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he
may consume to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Steil), my good
friend.
{time} 1100
Mr. STEIL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from the great State of
Illinois for yielding me time.
Mr. Speaker, I support the Protection and Advocacy for Voting Access
Program Inclusion Act, which makes a simple technical fix. It would now
include, as noted, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and
the American Indian consortium as eligible recipients of funding that
would help improve voting access for people with disabilities.
Originally, this bill was to be paired with the Confirmation of
Congressional Observer Access Act on the suspension calendar, and I
must note that I am pretty disappointed we are not also moving forward
with the Congressional Observer Access Act.
I introduced this bill with the support of Ranking Member Davis in
July, and I believe that it is a missed opportunity to increase
Americans' public trust in our elections.
The Congressional Observer Access Act would simply have clarified
that designated congressional election observers--that is, individuals
who have been designated in writing by Congress--would have the access
they need to observe the administration of Federal elections.
This is not a partisan bill. In fact, Congress already has this
authorization under the Constitution. This straightforward bill would
have provided clarity, which our State and local election officials
requested in order to provide observer access more readily.
I am disappointed that my colleagues on the other side of the aisle
walked away from doing these bills on suspension, and I encourage them
to work with Ranking Member Davis and myself to get this passed as soon
as possible. We must work together to take commonsense steps that
promote election integrity.
Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), our majority leader.
Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I would indicate to Chair Lofgren that
perhaps we can yield to the ranking member because he would like to
yield me 1 minute, I am sure.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this legislation. I was the sponsor
of HAVA. Republicans were in charge, and I worked very closely with my
friend Bob Ney on HAVA. It was legislation that was called by The
Washington Post as the greatest reform legislation in 25 years since
the civil rights bill. That may have been some hyperbole, but it was a
good bill.
This bill corrects, essentially, a fault that we made in terms of its
inclusiveness. The bill before us concerns two critical objectives that
have been central to my work here in the House.
The first is ensuring that those with disabilities have equal access
to the same opportunities as their fellow Americans. On July 26, we
celebrated the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act signed by
President George H.W. Bush, a very bipartisan piece of legislation that
has made a historical difference.
The second is ensuring that all eligible voters in America have
access to the ballot box and can make their voices heard in our
democracy. That is, after all what our democracy is about.
The PAVA Program Inclusion Act helps accomplish both of those goals,
and that is why I am proud to bring it to the floor today.
Specifically, this bill would improve access to the ballot for
Americans with disabilities who live in the Northern Mariana Islands--
clearly, we want those included--and our Native American Tribal lands
in the Four Corners region of the southwest, which we also expected we
had done.
This bill expands key programs first laid out in the Help America
Vote Act, also known as HAVA, that provided funding to regional
protection and advocacy systems to assist people with disabilities in
the voting process.
Although HAVA intended to provide funding for this important purpose
to all protection and advocacy systems across the country, a technical
oversight, as has been mentioned, led to the exclusion of these two
regions. Today's legislation would correct that error and help us
realize HAVA's original vision.
I was proud to serve as the principal House sponsor, as I said, of
HAVA back in 2002 along with Bob Ney, who was the Republican chair of
the House Administration Committee and a very good friend of mine. We
are prepared to celebrate its 20th anniversary later this month. I am
glad to see that the groundbreaking law continues to evolve and be
strengthened by Congress.
HAVA was based on the principle that the integrity of our democracy
depends on the accessibility and accuracy of our electoral system. I
brought together a bipartisan coalition to enact that legislation in
order to establish a number of commonsense policies that make voting
easier and more secure, from reliable voting equipment to expanded
provisional ballot access, HAVA and the bipartisan Election Assistance
Commission--which I strongly support, and I am glad to see that we are
investing in--make our Federal participation more broad and more
effective.
Today's bill reminds us, however, that HAVA must continue to adapt to
new needs and challenges. I very much appreciate the efforts of Chair
Zoe Lofgren, the gentlewoman from California, who has worked so hard on
voting rights issues as head of the House Administration Committee, and
I thank the ranking member Mr. Davis, as well. I thank Senator Lujan,
our former House colleague, for authoring this bill and advancing it
through the Senate.
We must do everything in our power to ensure that people with
disabilities, especially those from historically marginalized groups
such as Native Americans and Pacific Islanders, can participate equally
and fully in our democracy.
Mr. Speaker, that is why I ask all of my colleagues to vote ``yes.''
[[Page H8234]]
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, could I make a quick point
of personal privilege?
Is there any way to get the time of that ``magic minute'' this time?
I want to sign a printout from the Congressional Record for my good
friend from Maryland.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman may consult the majority
leader to ask him to look at his watch.
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time
as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to ask Majority Leader
Hoyer about his time.
I have somewhat become used to being the antagonist to some of the
majority's legislation when it comes to election administration, which
I think has been so shortsighted on its impact to the American people.
But this is one of those opportunities where we see good legislation
come from the Senate, and this is an opportunity for us to show the
American people that Republicans and Democrats can get along and pass
important bills that are going to positively impact those who are
disabled, and ensure that every single person who may be dealing with a
disability in this country and in our territories has the right to
vote, the eligibility to vote, and the opportunity to vote. That is
what this bill does.
Really, I have got to thank again my colleague, Roy Blunt, Senator
Blunt, who used to be in leadership in this institution, as many of us
know and remember so well. I thank him for bringing Republicans and
Democrats on the House Administration Committee and Leader Hoyer and I
together on this very important issue.
I wish he would have come in earlier on some other issues, we might
have had a little more bipartisan agreement. I will have to talk to him
about that and ask him why he didn't do that.
Mr. Speaker, I thank my friends, Leader Hoyer and Chairperson
Lofgren, and I thank the staff for pushing this important bill forward.
I am disappointed and optimistic that we did not get the election
observer fixes that both parties want and need and election
administrators throughout the country have asked us to address. I am
disappointed that was not part of a suspension agreement, where this
bill should have been. I am cautiously optimistic with the great
opportunity for bipartisanship that we are seeing here today that maybe
it can continue after today. I won't hold my breath, but I will
continue to remain optimistic and, hopefully, see that moving forward
very quickly.
Mr. Speaker, I thank Congressman Steil for his remarks, and I thank
Leader Hoyer and, also, again, my good friend, Mr. Blunt, for all their
hard work.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
We have agreement on this bill from the Senate, and that is a good
thing. I should note that we have had discussions, primarily at a staff
level, on the election observer measure mentioned by the ranking member
and Mr. Steil. We continue to evaluate the proposal, but we found a few
concerns. I will mention them now. It is not arbitrary.
=========================== NOTE ===========================
September 29, 2022, on page H8234, in the first column, the
following appeared: Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my
time. We have agreement on this bill from
The online version has been corrected to read: Mr. Speaker, I
yield back the balance of my time. Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I
yield myself such time as I may consume. We have agreement on this
bill from
========================= END NOTE =========================
The proposed legislation does provide broad access, statutory access,
to observers, but it doesn't provide the ability of election officials
to protect private, personally identifiable information of voters, and
we think that needs to be addressed.
The same section prohibits election officials from interfering ``with
the elections administration process.'' The text doesn't give election
officials the ability to remove observers if they are disruptive, and
regrettably, we have seen across the country instances where advocates
became aggressive, even in some cases--well, I will leave it at that--
aggressive towards election officials. There has to be a capacity to
deal with that.
We haven't had a hearing or markup on this. It is possible we will.
But I didn't want to leave this just dangling out there.
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Will the gentlewoman yield?
Ms. LOFGREN. I yield to the gentleman from Illinois.
Mr. RODNEY DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman
for yielding.
This is the first time we have heard these concerns, on the House
floor today. We have not had any discussion between our staffs. I would
have loved to have worked through some of these.
Ms. LOFGREN. Reclaiming my time. My staff indicates that there have
been discussions. Obviously, that was at a staff level. But I have
outlined what the concerns are, and I would at this point like to close
so that we can let the House get to its other business.
To go on suspension, both sides of the aisle need to agree, and I
think that is a very important provision of our procedures that will
continue, whichever party is in the majority, and that was how this
ended up. Because that bill really is not necessarily connected with
this PAVA bill. I will talk about another bill that is not connected
with the PAVA bill, and that is the venue bill I mentioned earlier this
morning.
I forgot to mention, and I put it into the Record last night, that
the Progressive Policy Institute, as well as the chamber of commerce,
opposes that venue provision. I do think the fact that Senator Cruz,
Senator Cotton, Senator Hawley, Mr. Buck and Mr. Gaetz are for it
doesn't persuade me that it is a safe measure to move forward to, even
though I very much support the Neguse bill. If this does not pass
today, I am sure the Neguse bill will come back because we do need
resources to enforce our antitrust laws. I am totally on board with
that.
Mr. Speaker, I hope that we will pass this bill from the Senate that
will protect disabled voters in the Northern Mariana Islands and the
American Indian consortium, that they will have the same access to
funding as all the others, and I urge support.
Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, S. 3969, the Protection and Advocacy for
Voting Access Program Inclusion Act, will provide federal funding to
help my district, the Northern Mariana Islands, lower the accessibility
barriers that prevent individuals with disabilities from exercising
their right to vote.
The right to vote is the bedrock of our democracy. Yet simply having
the right to vote does not ensure that every citizen is able to access
the polls to cast their ballot. While the Help America Vote Act of 2002
has been instrumental in improving the accessibility of polling places
for voters with disabilities, the Act currently cannot distribute
program grants to the Marianas and the American Indian Consortium.
S. 3969 corrects that. The bill adds the Marianas and the American
Indian Consortium to entities eligible for grants under the Protection
and Advocacy for Voting Access program. PAVA supports training for poll
workers, distributing resources on how to conduct an accessible
campaign, maintaining voting hotlines, and examining polling places for
accessibility.
S. 3969 is the Senate companion to H.R. 7326, which Rep. Ruben
Gallego and I introduced in this Congress. I want to thank Senators Ben
Ray Lujan, Roy Blunt, Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, and Martin Heinrich
for introducing S. 3969 and their work to pass the bill unanimously in
the Senate.
I also want to thank Representatives Tom O'Halleran, John Curtis, and
Teresa Leger Fernandez for their cosponsorship of H.R. 7326.
I urged my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of S. 3969,
the ``Protection and Advocacy for Voting Access Program Inclusion Act''
which would remedy a specific situation to ensure that citizens who
have the right to vote can do so without having to worry about
barriers.
Voting is a fundamental right that belongs to ALL citizens of the
United States. In 2002, former President Bush signed into law the Help
America Vote Act of 2002, also known as HAVA, to upgrade aspects of
states' election procedures. It amended state plans and reporting,
accessibility, and voting system standards.
While the Help America Vote Act of 2002 intended to accomplish voter
accessibility and encouraging voting across the nation by addressing
the accessibility issues most United States citizens face, it failed to
cover the entire population adequately.
Specifically, HAVA did not address the needs of certain nonmainland
territories, ultimately resulting in certain communities being unable
to participate in the foundational right that our democracy is built
on.
The Northern Mariana Islands and American Indian Consortium have
limited accessibility in voting, as they are not currently protected by
the HAVA.
The Protection and Advocacy for Voting Access Program Inclusion Act,
also known as PAVA Inclusion Act, aims to amend the Help
[[Page H8235]]
America Vote Act of 2002 by introducing the State Definition
initialized in the Development Disabilities Assistance and Bill of
Rights Act of 2000 which allows the Help America Vote of 2002 to cover
Northern Mariana Islands citizens.
Additionally, this bill seeks to establish a system to serve the
American Indian Consortium, granting them protection under the HAVA act
in a similar manner to a State as mentioned prior.
With these two communities protected by PAVA, they will now receive
the much-requested grants that will enable them to meet the voting
needs of their citizens. With these grants, systems will be able to
overcome voter obstacles such as any language barriers.
Mr. Speaker, I urge my fellow Congressmembers to vote in support of
the PAVA Inclusion Act. Without the PAVA Inclusion Act, eligible voters
residing on the Northern Mariana Islands and in the American Indian
Consortium are faced with unsurmountable challenges in exercising their
rights to vote.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 1396, the previous question is ordered
on the bill.
The question is on the third reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be read a third time, and was read the third
time.
The question is on passage of the bill.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
____________________