[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 1]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 359-360]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     REGARDING JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS TO COUNT ELECTORAL BALLOTS

                                  _____
                                 

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, January 6, 2017

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, as a senior member of the House 
Committees on the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committee; Ranking 
Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland 
Security, and Investigations, and the Congressional Voting Rights 
Caucus, I rise today to offer thoughts and reflections on the 
congressional responsibility to bear witness to the counting of 
electoral votes to determine formally the persons elected President and 
Vice President of the United States and on the campaign and election 
that brought us to this day.
  Historians will surely record that the 2016 presidential campaign was 
one for the ages.
  The two leading protagonists could not have been more dissimilar.
  The Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton of New York, was widely 
considered the most qualified person ever nominated for the office, 
having served as Secretary of State; elected by landslide margins to 
two terms as U.S. Senator from New York, the nation's only First Lady 
to win high elective office in her own right; valedictorian of her 
class at Wellesley University, a graduate of Yale Law School, and the 
first woman ever to win the presidential nomination of one of the 
nation's two major political parties.
  Republican Donald Trump of New York, the other candidate, was sui 
generis as well, since he is the first person to gain an Electoral 
College majority with no experience whatsoever in elective or appointed 
governmental office or public service but possessing a remarkable 
talent for attracting media attention.
  The 2016 was notable also for a number of other unprecedented 
occurrences.
  For example, it was the first time in history that a Director of the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation had ever injected himself and his 
agency, unintentionally or not, in a presidential campaign when FBI 
Director James Comey held a July 5, 2016 news conference, during which 
he announced that the FBI had completed its investigation regarding the 
email server of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and had 
concluded that no violation of law had been committed but offered 
unfavorable personal opinions ex cathedra regarding Secretary Clinton's 
conduct.
  Compounding the damage inflicted on Secretary Clinton's campaign by 
his gratuitous commentary, FBI Director Comey exacerbated the damage 
already done when, a mere eleven days before Election Day, he sent a 
vaguely worded letter to partisan Congressional Republican opponents of 
Secretary Clinton allowing them to leak the letter to the media and 
claim falsely that the FBI had reopened the investigation for the sole 
purpose of inflicting electoral damage on Secretary Clinton.
  These actions were taken in contravention of long-standing Department 
of Justice policy, practice, and custom enjoining Justice Department 
officials and employees from engaging any conduct or taking any legal 
action that could impact the outcome of an election to be held within 
the ensuing 60 days.
  The 2016 presidential election was historic in another respect as 
well; it is the first American presidential election that the 
Intelligence Community has confirmed was the subject of cyberattacks 
and other subversive activities of entities allied with the Government 
of Russia that were undertaken for the express purpose of influencing 
the outcome of the 2016 presidential election to secure the election of 
its preferred candidate, Donald Trump.
  It is also worth noting that the 2016 presidential campaign was the 
first in history in which one of the two leading candidates, Donald 
Trump, openly invited a hostile foreign power to launch cyberattacks 
against his political opponent.
  In at least one respect, however, the 2016 presidential campaign was 
not unprecedented.
  It was the fifth time in history, and the second in the last 16 
years, that the candidate winning an Electoral College majority lost 
the popular vote.
  But what is unusual is the historic margin of the popular vote defeat 
produced by the 2016 campaign that saw Hillary Clinton defeat Donald 
Trump by an astounding 2.86 million votes: 65,844,610 votes to 
62,979,636, nearly six times more than Vice-President Al Gore's popular 
vote win in 2000, the next highest victory margin.
  Indeed, Hillary Clinton received more votes for president than any 
person in history not named Barack Obama, which means that the two 
greatest vote getters in American political history are an African 
American male and white female, which in itself is a testament to how 
far America has travelled on the path to equality and opportunity for 
all in the past 240 years.
  While it is true that a switch of less than 80,000 votes in just 
three states--Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin--would have secured 
an Electoral College majority for Hillary Clinton, that fact is of 
little consolation and practical consequence to the situation and task 
now before us, which is to count the electoral votes cast for President 
and Vice-President of the United States and announce the results to the 
country and the world.
  It is, as I noted at the outset, a duty imposed on Members of the 
House and the Senate by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
  But because we are all called upon to bear witness to the counting of 
electoral votes does not mean our role is to be passive observers.
  On the contrary, the Constitution and the law, specifically Section 
15 of the Electoral College Act, 3 U.S.C. Sec. 1 et seq., vests in 
Representatives and Senators the power and responsibility of objecting 
to the counting of any vote cast by an elector if in their judgment the 
vote was not ``regularly given'' or the person casting the vote was not 
``lawfully certified'' as an elector.
  The Constitution devolves this solemn duty upon the people's 
representatives, the Congress, because the linchpin of representative 
democracy is public confidence in the political system, regime, and 
community.
  That confidence in turn rests upon the extent to which the public has 
faith that the system employed to select its leaders accurately 
reflects its preferences.
  At bottom, this means that all citizens casting a vote have a 
fundamental right and reasonable expectation that their votes count and 
are counted.
  This concern is particularly salient when it comes to today's 
counting of the electoral votes occurring in the aftermath of the 
unprecedented interference by a hostile foreign power to secure victory 
for its preferred candidate.
  And the salience is heightened by the fact that the November 8, 2016 
election is the first presidential election held since the Supreme 
Court issued the notorious decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which 
neutered the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act and 
adversely affected the ability of hundreds of thousands of persons to 
cast a ballot and have their vote counted.
  For these reasons, I owe it to my constituents and to the American 
people to consider each electoral vote certificate as it is presented 
and accept those that appear to be meritorious but to oppose those 
which in my judgment do not appear to satisfy the statutory requirement 
that the votes reflected on the lists were ``regularly given'' by 
``lawfully certified'' electors.
  I am particularly skeptical that this legal standard is met where 
there is evidence to support the following conclusions:
  1. There is a failure to provide ``distinct lists of votes'' for the 
President and Vice President as required by U.S. Constitution, Article 
II, Section 1 and Amendment XII; and by 3 U.S.C. Sec. 9;
  2. There is a failure of one or more elector to reside in the 
district from which elected as required under state law;
  3. There appears to be a violation of state statutes prohibiting 
electors from holding multiple governmental offices of trust, honor, or 
profit;
  4. There is compelling evidence that the illegal activities engaged 
in by individuals and entities allied with the Government of Russia 
that were undertaken for the purpose of benefitting the candidacy of 
Donald J. Trump deterred and dissuaded thousands of voters from 
exercising their franchise; or
  5. There is compelling evidence that activities engaged in by state 
officials violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and disenfranchised 
thousands of voters and resulted in the unlawful certification of 
electors.

[[Page 360]]

  Finally, Mr. Speaker, let me say for the record that where, as is the 
case this year, the results in the Electoral College and of the popular 
vote diverge by the largest and most astounding margin in American 
history, it is particularly fitting, appropriate, and necessary to 
examine the electoral vote certificate presented for acceptance as 
carefully and fairly as possible and for as long as time permits.
  The fate of our democracy is at stake. I now submit formal letters to 
the Vice President regarding objection to certification of Electors in 
certain states:

                                    Congress of the United States,


                                     House of Representatives,

                                  Washington, DC, January 6, 2017.
     Basis of Objection: Failure of one or more elector to reside 
         in district from which elected.

     Hon. Joseph R. Biden,
     Vice President of the United States and President of the 
         Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Vice President Biden: We object to the 15 votes from 
     the State of North Carolina for Donald J. Trump for President 
     and Mike Pence for Vice President. Notwithstanding the 
     certification by the Governor of the State of North Carolina, 
     it is the opinion of the undersigned that these 15 votes were 
     not regularly given because at least five electors were not 
     ``lawfully certified'' and their votes were not ``regularly 
     given'' since one or more electors does not reside in the 
     district for which he or she was elected as required by state 
     law.
       Additionally, several activities engaged in by state 
     officials in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 
     disenfranchised thousands of North Carolina voters and 
     resulted in the unlawful certification of electors. 
     Accordingly, no electoral vote of the State of North Carolina 
     should be counted for Donald J. Trump for President or for 
     Mike Pence for Vice President.
           Respectfully,
                                               Sheila Jackson Lee,
                              U.S. Representative, State of Texas.
                                  ____
                                  
                                    Congress of the United States,


                                     House of Representatives,

                                  Washington, DC, January 6, 2017.
     Basis of Objection: Violation of state statutes prohibiting 
         dual-office holding.

     Hon. Joseph R. Biden,
     Vice President of the United States and President of the 
         Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Vice President Biden: We object to the 20 votes from 
     the State of Pennsylvania for Donald J. Trump for President 
     and Mike Pence for Vice President. Notwithstanding the 
     certification by the Governor of the State of Pennsylvania, 
     it is the opinion of the undersigned that these 20 votes were 
     not regularly given because they were cast by electors not 
     lawfully certified since they are in violation of state law 
     prohibiting dual-office holding.
       Additionally, it appears that illegal activities engaged in 
     by individuals and entities allied with the Government of 
     Russia that were undertaken for the purpose to benefitting 
     the candidacy of Donald J. Trump deterred and dissuaded 
     thousands of voters from exercising their franchise and 
     resulted in votes not regularly given by electors not 
     lawfully certified. Accordingly, no electoral vote of the 
     State of Pennsylvania should be counted for Donald J. Trump 
     for President or for Mike Pence for Vice President.
           Respectfully,
                                               Sheila Jackson Lee,
                              U.S. Representative, State of Texas.
                                  ____
                                  
                                    Congress of the United States,


                                     House of Representatives,

                                  Washington, DC, January 6, 2017.
     Basis of Objection: Failure to provide ``distinct lists of 
         votes'' for the President and Vice President.

     Hon. Joseph R. Biden,
     Vice President of the United States and President of the 
         Senate, Washington, DC.
       Dear Vice President Biden: We object to the 10 votes from 
     the State of Wisconsin for Donald J. Trump for President and 
     Mike Pence for Vice President. Notwithstanding the 
     certification by the Governor of the State of Wisconsin, it 
     is the opinion of the undersigned that these 10 votes were 
     not regularly given because they fail to comply with 3 U.S.C. 
     Sec. 9, which requires that ``electors shall make and sign 
     six certificates of all the votes given by them, each of 
     which certificates shall contain two distinct lists, one of 
     the votes for President and the other of the votes for Vice 
     President[.]''
       Additionally, it appears that illegal activities engaged in 
     by individuals and entities allied with the Government of 
     Russia that were undertaken for the purpose to benefitting 
     the candidacy of Donald J. Trump deterred and dissuaded 
     thousands of voters from exercising their franchise and 
     resulted in votes not regularly given by electors not 
     lawfully certified. Accordingly, no electoral vote of the 
     State of Wisconsin should be counted for Donald J. Trump for 
     President or for Mike Pence for Vice President.
           Respectfully,
                                               Sheila Jackson Lee,
     U.S. Representative, State of Texas.

                          ____________________