[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 13]
[House]
[Page 18031]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




    RESOLUTION DISMISSING ELECTION CONTEST AGAINST ED CASE OF HAWAII

  Mr. NEY, from the Committee on House Administration, submitted a 
privileged report (H. Rept. 108-207) on the resolution (H. Res. 317) 
dismissing the election contest against Ed Case, which was referred to 
the House Calendar and ordered to be printed.
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent for the immediate 
consideration of the resolution (H. Res. 317) dismissing the election 
contest relating to the office of Representative from the Second 
Congressional District of Hawaii.
  The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                              H. Res. 317

       Resolved, That the election contest relating to the office 
     of Representative from the Second Congressional District of 
     Hawaii is dismissed.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Ohio?
  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, reserving my right to object, 
I yield to the distinguished chairman to explain the purpose of this 
resolution.
  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Connecticut, 
our ranking member, for yielding.
  I rise in support of House Resolution 317, a bill to dismiss an 
election contest filed against Representative Ed Case of Hawaii's 
Second Congressional District. There is bipartisan and complete 
agreement that the contest fails to state grounds sufficient to change 
the result of the election and therefore should be dismissed.
  The contestant challenged the late Representative Patsy Mink in the 
2002 Democrat primary, where he received 15 percent of the vote. The 
contestant argues that Representative Mink, who was seriously ill at 
the time of the primary and passed away 1 week later, should have been 
disqualified as a primary candidate, that he should have been declared 
the Democrat nominee by default and that as the nominee he therefore 
would have been the inevitable general election winner.
  The Federal Contested Elections Act does not contemplate considering 
Notices of Contest that are based on the conduct of primary elections. 
Consequently, the committee concludes that the basis for the 
contestant's Notice of Contest falls outside the scope of the FCEA, and 
it was totally agreed to without any dissension.
  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, further reserving my right to 
object, I rise in support of the resolution reported unanimously by the 
Committee on House Administration to dismiss this frivolous election 
contest against our colleague from Hawaii Ed Case.
  Representative Case won a special election with 44 candidates on the 
ballot on January 4, 2003, by an overwhelming margin; and I want to 
commend the gentleman from Ohio (Chairman Ney) for the bipartisan 
cooperation that has been demonstrated throughout this process.
  Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from Ohio?
  There was no objection.
  The resolution was agreed to.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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