[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 139 (Monday, September 9, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H5049-H5051]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       CONFIRMATION OF CONGRESSIONAL OBSERVER ACCESS ACT OF 2023

  Mr. STEIL. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill 
(H.R. 6513) to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to confirm the 
requirement that States allow access to designated congressional 
election observers to observe the election administration procedures in 
congressional elections.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 6513

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.

       (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the 
     ``Confirmation Of Congressional Observer Access Act of 2023'' 
     or the ``COCOA Act of 2023''.
       (b) Findings Relating to Congressional Election 
     Observers.--Congress finds the following:
       (1) Article 1, section 5, clause 1 of the Constitution 
     grants Congress the authority to ``be the Judge of the 
     Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members''.
       (2) The House of Representatives serves as the final 
     arbiter over any contest to the seating of any putative 
     Member-elect.
       (3) Congress has exercised this authority--and 
     responsibility--since our Nation's very beginning, from the 
     First Congress through the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress. 
     Over our history, election contests have remained a normal 
     and regular part of the biennial process for electing, 
     recognizing, and seating new Members. Although Congress has 
     opted to revise the statutory framework by which it considers 
     election contests, consideration of such contests has been a 
     regular and recurring part of Congress' constitutional 
     prerogatives and work. For example, across our Nation's 
     history, more than approximately 610 elections have been 
     contested in the House--an average of more than 5 per 
     Congress. Indeed, even discounting the Reconstruction period 
     and its surge in election contests, there have been 110 
     contested election cases considered in the House since 1933--
     an average of more than 2 contests per Congress.
       (4) These election contest procedures are contained in the 
     precedents of each House of Congress. Further, for the House 
     of Representatives the procedures exist under the Federal 
     Contested Elections Act.
       (5) For decades, the House of Representatives has appointed 
     its staff to watch the administration of congressional 
     elections in the States and territories. Critically, 
     congressional observers serve to gather real-time information 
     and data for the House in anticipation of an election contest 
     being filed.

     SEC. 2. ACCESS FOR CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OBSERVERS.

       (a) Access Required.--Title III of the Help America Vote 
     Act of 2002 (52 U.S.C. 21081 et seq.) is amended--
       (1) by redesignating section 304 and 305 as sections 305 
     and 306; and
       (2) by inserting after section 303 the following new 
     section:

     ``SEC. 304. ACCESS FOR CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION OBSERVERS.

       ``(a) Finding of Constitutional Authority.--Congress finds 
     that, regardless of legislative action, it has the authority 
     to send congressional election observers to observe polling 
     locations, any location where processing, scanning, 
     tabulating, canvassing, recounting, auditing, or certifying 
     voting results is occurring, or any other part of the process 
     associated with elections for Federal office under the 
     authorities granted under article 1, section 5, clause 1 and 
     article 1, section 4, clause 1 of the Constitution of the 
     United States. Procedures described herein do not establish 
     any new authorities or procedures with respect to Congress' 
     constitutional authority to observe congressional elections 
     but are provided simply to permit a convenient statutory 
     reference for existing congressional authority and activity.
       ``(b) Requiring States To Provide Access for Observers.--
       ``(1) Requirement.--A State shall provide each individual 
     who is acting as a designated congressional election observer 
     for an election for Federal office with full access to 
     clearly observe all elements of election administration 
     procedures, including, but not limited to, access to any area 
     in which a ballot is cast, processed, scanned, tabulated, 
     canvassed, recounted, audited, or certified, including during 
     pre- and post-election procedures.
       ``(2) Restrictions on activities of observers.--No 
     designated congressional election observer may handle a 
     ballot or election equipment (whether voting or nonvoting or 
     whether tabulating or nontabulating), advocate for any 
     position or candidate, take any action to reduce ballot 
     secrecy or voter privacy, take any action to interfere with 
     the ability of a voter to cast a ballot or an election 
     administrator to carry the administrator's duties, or 
     otherwise interfere with the election administration process.
       ``(3) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this section shall 
     prohibit a designated congressional election observer from 
     asking questions of an election administrator, election 
     official, or election worker, or any other State or local 
     official.
       ``(c) Conduct of Observers.--
       ``(1) Removal.--
       ``(A) Authorization removal by election official.--If a 
     State or local election official

[[Page H5050]]

     has a reasonable basis to believe that a designated 
     congressional election observer has engaged in or imminently 
     will engage in intimidation or deceptive practices prohibited 
     by Federal law, or in the disruption of voting, processing, 
     scanning, tabulating, canvassing, or recounting of ballots, 
     or the certification of results, a State or local election 
     official may remove that observer from the area involved.
       ``(B) Notice to committee.--If a designated congressional 
     election observer is removed from an area under subparagraph 
     (A), the election official shall--
       ``(i) inform the chair and ranking minority member of the 
     Committee on House Administration of the House of 
     Representatives; and
       ``(ii) provide written notice detailing the reason or 
     reasons the designated congressional election observer was 
     removed.
       ``(2) Rule of construction.--For purposes of this 
     subsection, the mere presence of a designated congressional 
     election observer during an observation of election 
     administration procedures, without any additional indicia 
     supporting a reasonable basis for removal, is not a 
     sufficient reason for removal under subparagraph (A).
       ``(3) Right to replace observer.--If a designated 
     congressional election observer is properly removed under 
     subparagraph (A), the chair or ranking minority member of the 
     Committee on House Administration of the House of 
     Representatives, as appropriate, may send another designated 
     congressional election observer as a replacement for the 
     remaining duration of the observation of election 
     administration procedures.
       ``(4) Clarification regarding applicability of code of 
     official conduct.--It is the sense of Congress that, because 
     the Code of Official Conduct for the House of Representatives 
     (rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives) 
     requires all employees of the House to behave at all times in 
     a manner that reflects creditably on the House, an employee 
     of the House who serves as a designated congressional 
     election observer is subject to the Code of Official Conduct 
     in the employee's role as such an observer.
       ``(d) Designated Congressional Election Observer 
     Described.--In this section, a `designated congressional 
     election observer' is a House employee (as contemplated by 
     the Rules of the House of Representatives) who is designated 
     in writing by the chair or ranking minority member of the 
     Committee on House Administration of the House of 
     Representatives, or the successor committee, to gather 
     information with respect to an election, including in the 
     event that the election is contested in the House of 
     Representatives and for other purposes permitted by article 
     1, section 5, clause 1 and article 1, section 4, clause 1 of 
     the Constitution of the United States.
       ``(e) State Defined.--In this section `State' means each of 
     the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 
     Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American 
     Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 
     Islands.''.
       (b) Conforming Amendment Relating to Enforcement.--Section 
     401 of such Act (52 U.S.C. 21111) is amended by striking 
     ``and 303'' and inserting ``303, and 304''.
       (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents of such Act 
     is amended--
       (1) by redesignating the items relating to sections 304 and 
     305 as relating to sections 305 and 306; and
       (2) by inserting after the item relating to section 303 the 
     following:

``Sec. 304. Confirming access for congressional election observers.''.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
Wisconsin (Mr. Steil) and the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Kilmer) 
each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Wisconsin.


                             General Leave

  Mr. STEIL. 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 H.R. 6513, the COCOA Act of 2023.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Wisconsin?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. STEIL. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6513, the Confirmation of 
Congressional Observer Access Act, or the COCOA Act. Ensuring the 
fairness and accuracy of our elections is of utmost importance for me 
as chairman of the Committee on House Administration.

                              {time}  1530

  The Election Observer Program is one of the key ways my committee has 
worked to strengthen election administration practices.
  Since 1933, there have been 110 contested election cases considered 
in the House. This averages to over two contests per Congress.
  During the 2020 election cycle, House election observers were 
deployed to Iowa's Second District to oversee the administration of the 
election of our now-colleague, Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks.
  She went on to win that contested race by only six votes, and trained 
House election observers were instrumental in collecting on-the-ground, 
factual information for Congress.
  The Constitution grants Congress the authority to be the ``judge of 
the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own Members.'' It is 
under this constitutional authority that the House established the 
nonpartisan Election Observer Program.
  In the 2022 election cycle, observers were deployed to roughly 25 
sites across the country. This long-running program has deployed 
trained congressional staff as election observers to sites nationwide 
with close congressional contests.
  Deploying election observers is much needed. Strong election 
integrity increases confidence and participation in our elections, 
which is a good thing.
  Providing a statutory citation for these election observers to 
monitor election administration practices will achieve this goal.
  Elections are partisan, but the administration of elections should 
never be partisan.
  I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. KILMER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6513. I am proud to say 
this measure is the by-product of bipartisan agreement.
  Article I, Section 5, Clause 1 of the Constitution grants Congress 
the authority to be the ``judge of the elections, returns, and 
qualifications of its own Members.''
  The House of Representatives serves as the final arbiter over any 
contest to the seating of any putative Member-elect.
  Simply put, this measure, H.R. 6513, confirms Congress' 
constitutional authority to designated congressional staff to observe 
election administration procedures in congressional elections.
  I am grateful to my colleague, Chairman Steil, for agreeing to 
address several concerns raised in committee with an earlier version of 
the text.
  For example, we were able to agree on the need to preserve the 
authority of local election officials to remove an observer who is 
being disruptive or interfering with the elections process, as well as 
the additional language stating our sense that all House employees 
deployed as observers must adhere to the Code of Official Conduct while 
serving in this role.
  It is important to balance transparency with security, and at a time 
when election officials across the country have raised concerns about 
safety, security, and privacy, we should hold ourselves and our staff 
to the highest standards.
  We are glad to have worked with Chairman Steil and his staff to reach 
a bipartisan agreement.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6513, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. STEIL. Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the 
gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Carey) to speak on the bill.
  Mr. CAREY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of my bill, H.R. 
6513, the Confirmation of Congressional Observer Access Act, or COCOA 
Act of 2023. It will provide a statutory citation for the long-running, 
nonpartisan Election Observer Program.
  This program has trained and equipped congressional staff to serve as 
election observers during close election contests.
  As we have seen or just heard, election contests can come down to 
just six votes.
  This critical program adds the added layer of accountability for the 
American people during those close contests.
  Ensuring our elections are fair, factual, and accurate is of utmost 
importance.
  I have been proud to work with my colleagues on the Committee on 
House Administration this Congress to strengthen our Nation's 
elections.
  This program is a strong election integrity measure, and I encourage 
all of my colleagues to support it.
  Mr. KILMER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the lead sponsor of the bill, Mr. 
Carey,

[[Page H5051]]

both for his leadership on this bill and for his partnership on the 
Modernization Subcommittee.
  Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance 
of my time.
  Mr. STEIL. Mr. Speaker, I further encourage the strong support of 
H.R. 6513, the Confirmation of Congressional Observer Access Act.
  I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the 
balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Steil) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 6513.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds being in the affirmative) the 
rules were suspended and the bill was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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