American Voting System

Floor Speech

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Mr. BIGGS. Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for leading this Special Order.

Madam Speaker, I want to speak to two specific aspects of this.

First of all, I rise in opposition to H.R. 1, the sweeping unconstitutional attack on the electoral system that it represents. It would federalize our electoral system and usurp the authority of States and their citizens to manage their own elections by imposing unnecessary and unconstitutional restrictions that interfere with their fundamental democratic rights.

H.R. 1 would restrict freedom of speech and undermine Americans' constitutional rights under the First Amendment by increasing the power of the Federal Government to regulate and control political speech.

It would criminalize a vast range of legal activities, increase government censorship, and impose an enormous administrative compliance burden on candidates that would make it harder for everyday Americans to participate in our political system and even run for office.

It would also weaken important safeguards to ensure the integrity of our electoral system and guarantee that every American vote is counted and protected. This could expose future elections to greater risk of cyber manipulation and mass voter fraud.

It could limit the ability of election officials to ensure that only eligible voter votes are counted and cripple the effectiveness of State voter ID laws.

Now, I have to speak to an issue that particularly impacts those of us who live in States that have independent redistricting commissions. I live in Arizona. Many years ago, our voters said: We don't want the legislature designing the congressional districts and the State legislative districts anymore; we want an independent redistricting commission, so they voted for it. So we have a five-member commission: two Republicans, two Democrats, and an Independent. They design the congressional districts.

This bill would take that away from them. It would bring it back to Washington, D.C., after creating an unelected board that would then design these districts for States. Now, I ask you, why would that be better than the independent redistricting commission in Arizona that was approved by the Arizona voters? It doesn't make sense to me, and it doesn't make sense to my constituents, I can tell you that.

We struggle enough. We struggle enough with the independent redistricting commission with Arizona appointees. Imagine if we have no connection to the appointees.

I am also always amazed at people who don't get to Arizona and don't realize the vastness of that State. It is a unique State: 7 million people--5 million of them in one county, one metropolitan area; 1 million in another county; and then another 1 million sprinkled throughout this vast State. That takes local knowledge and it takes local experience to create those districts, there is no doubt about it. The Arizona Constitution is filled with the criterion on how to redistrict in Arizona. This would usurp the Arizona Constitution.

H.R. 1 is fraught with many, many problems. I have just gone through a couple of them for you tonight.

Madam Speaker, I thank my friend from Florida for his leadership on this, his fight, and I appreciate him sharing time with me tonight.

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