U.S. Representative Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), who also serves as the Committee on House Administration Ranking Member, released the following statement after House Democrats passed H.R. 1:
“Every single Republican lawmaker stood with the American people last night and voted against this bill that means fewer freedoms for them and more money for politicians. If H.R. 1 is signed into law, members of Congress will receive money from the federal government to run their campaigns, Americans’ First Amendment right to free speech will be greatly diminished, and election decisions will be taken from state and local officials and given to the federal government. H.R. 1 is not for the people, it’s for the politicians.
“We don’t need a bill that raises corporate fines-turned-public funds, that would otherwise be used to help victims under the Victims of Crime Act, to help politicians pay for more attack ads, political mailers, fundraisers, and other campaign activities. We don’t need a bill that weaponizes the Federal Election Commission and the IRS to restrict Americans’ right to free speech. And we don’t need a bill that moves election administration decisions further away from the people. People should have more say in how their elections are run, not less. But this is exactly what H.R. 1 does. I urge all of my colleagues in the Senate to stand with the American people and reject this bill as well.”
Not a single Republican voted for the bill. Opposition to the bill was bipartisan.
What does H.R. 1 do?
- Politicizes the Federal Elections Commission (FEC)
- Alters the current bipartisan makeup of the six- member commission to a partisan five-member commission and establishes a “Speech Czar”, limiting free speech and creating a partisan commission
- Creates a taxpayer slush fund for campaign contributions
- H.R. 1 will create a 6:1 government match on small dollar contributions of $200 of less in congressional and presidential campaigns
- For every $200 in donations made to a campaign, the federal government would match $1,200
- Federalizes the electoral system
- H.R. 1 obstructs states’ Article 1, Section 4 right to determine their registration and voting practices under the Constitution by requiring federally mandated practices
- Expands the electoral systems vulnerability to fraud
- H.R. 1 will allow for sworn statements to be used in place of voter identification, and require automatic voter registration
- H.R. 1 fails to impose any sufficient enforcement tools to guard against fraudulent voting practices and fails to criminalize fraudulent registrations
- H.R. 1 requires provisional ballots to be accepted at any polling location, which could result in votes being counted in the wrong precincts
- Weaponizes the IRS
- H.R. 1 permits the agency to investigate and consider the political and policy persuasions of organizations before granting tax-exempt status
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