March 7, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 41 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page H2507]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REASONS TO OPPOSE H.R. 1

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
North Carolina (Mr. Budd) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BUDD. Mr. Speaker, later today, we are going to be voting on H.R. 
1, and I would like to make a few points for the Record.
  To my colleagues on the other side of the aisle, before you vote this 
afternoon, I would like you to remember one thing. This bill is nearly 
600 pages, and it has been referred to 10 different committees, yet it 
has been subject to only one markup.
  I want the supporters of this bill to think about how that really 
looks. You are bringing up the bill that is intended to expand the 
ability of Americans to participate in the political process by using a 
process that restricted the participation of their elected officials.
  The second thing I want to point out is the section of this bill that 
creates a voucher program to allow people to use public funds for 
campaign donations. Mr. Speaker, instead of using taxpayer dollars for 
critical needs like border security or fixing our roads, we would be 
sending these dollars to political campaigns. That would be a complete 
disaster.
  One last thing that I am going to point out about this bill is the 
fact that it would weaponize the FEC to favor the ruling political 
party.
  Under current law, the Federal Election Commission is made up of six 
members, consisting of three Republicans and three Democrats. Four 
votes are needed to move forward with any kind of prosecution. The bill 
says that the new commission must consist of two Republicans, two 
Democrats, and one independent. By this logic, Bernie Sanders is 
technically an independent and would count, even though we all know he 
is a socialist and caucuses, though, with the Democrats.
  I would say much more about this bill, Mr. Speaker, and in the coming 
weeks I plan to. But for now, I want my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle to know that we have a real chance to put politics aside and pass 
some serious reform that would make our system work even better, but 
the more time we focus on partisan games like this, the less time we 
actually focus on draining the swamp.

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