Reschenthaler Votes Against Democrats’ Electoral Power Grab
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Guy Reschenthaler (PA-14) voted no on H.R. 1, House Democrats' "For the Politicians Act." The legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 220 to 210.
"H.R. 1, Congressional Democrats' most pressing priority, is nothing more than a top-down federal power grab that federalizes our elections and ensures a permanent Democrat majority.
"Our Constitution grants state legislatures the primary role in establishing election law and administering elections, but H.R. 1 upends that constitutional balance by undermining voter ID laws, forcing states to permanently expand mail-in voting, legalizing ballot harvesting, and stealing federal funding from crime victims to divert it to political campaigns. Additionally, this bill stifles free speech by empowering President Biden's IRS to target conservative organizations and deny them tax-exempt status, and increases our vulnerability for foreign election interference at a time when we should be increasingly vigilant about hostile regimes seeking to undermine our democracy.
"Democrats in Washington are trying to masquerade this reckless, partisan power grab as ‘election reform.' They need to stop focusing on schemes to amass power for themselves and start building faith in our election system with election security measures."
H.R. 1 includes the following:
- Creating the first-ever federal funding of campaigns with a 6:1 government match to any small donor contributions of $200 or less in a congressional or presidential campaign.
- Overstepping Constitutional boundaries by impeding a state's ability to determine its registration and voting practices.
- Making "pandemic-style" election changes permanent, like mail-in voting without safeguards to protect ballot integrity.
- Weaponizing the Federal Election Commission to make it a partisan entity and establishing a "speech czar" that will limit free speech.
- Increasing vulnerability for foreign election interference by centralizing the election system.
- Drastically limiting the First Amendment by imposing vague standards on groups wishing to advocate on behalf of any legislative issue.
- Legalizing voting for convicted felons throughout the country, even if they were convicted of election fraud.
- Removing states' ability to decide how their districts are drawn.
- Weaponizing the IRS by permitting the agency to investigate and consider the political persuasions of organizations before granting tax-exempt status.
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