[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 18]
[House]
[Page 26413]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                      ON ELECTORAL COLLEGE REFORM

  (Mr. ENGEL asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, the election mess in Florida and the 
closeness of the election throughout the Nation has cemented the fact 
that we must reform the electoral college.
  Today, I have introduced legislation to amend the Constitution to 
provide two middle-of-the-road options. Neither will totally scrap the 
system, yet both will allow the voters more of a voice in electing the 
President.
  The first resolution, or the proportional plan, will change the 
electoral college system by awarding electoral votes in each State 
based on the percentage of the popular vote gained by each ticket in 
that State. For instance, if one candidate got 60 percent of the 
popular vote in a State, he would get 60 percent of the electoral votes 
of that State and the other candidate getting 40 percent would get 40 
percent of the votes in that State.
  The second bill, or the district plan, will award one electoral vote 
to the candidate who wins in each congressional district in the country 
with the additional two electoral votes of each State awarded to the 
winner of the popular vote in each State.

                              {time}  1530

  This plan is already in place in Maine and Nebraska, and several 
State legislatures are going to be considering adopting it. It just 
does not seem right, as we have the current situation in Florida, where 
all the electoral votes of that State hinge on a few hundred votes 
either way.
  So I offer these two proposals as a way to begin the discussion and 
further this debate. There is a place for tradition in our country and 
a place for reform, and I think these proposals offer an equitable 
balance between the two.

                          ____________________