Page:Congressional Record 167(4).pdf/29

January 6, 2021 time when doing your best is not good enough. We must do what is required.

And we must do what is required to save this great Republic. Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition.

The SPEAKER. The gentlewoman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 5 minutes. Ms. WILD. Madam Speaker, as terrifying as today was here in the people’s House, it was, thankfully, fairly short in duration. In contrast, the pain and fear that so many Americans are experiencing this year has been long and continuous to this very moment.

Rather than pitting Americans against Americans, as we are here, we should be working to ensure rapid distribution of vaccines and adequate relief to Americans who are struggling economically because of this horrific pandemic. But we are not doing that. Instead, we have witnessed a stunning assault on our democracy itself.

This challenge is not an act of patriotism. The position of the objectors is completely incompatible with patriotism.

Our country is defined by her great people, and our democracy is defined above all else by our Constitution, a Constitution that these individuals want to ignore because they have decided that their judgment, the judgment of a small minority of partisan elites, should somehow override that of the more than 155 million Americans who participated in this election. That, my friends, is not democracy.

We should all remember this country’s founding was a rejection of monarchy, a rejection of the notion that any one person could be all-powerful. Our commitment to self-determination is what gave rise to our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution. It is why our Founders made the choice to build a country anchored in respect for the rule of law rather than one tied to the whims of men. It is why we have free and fair elections that allow us to vote out those who hold office.

I am proud to join the vast majority of my colleagues in both Chambers, Republicans and Democrats alike, in making it clear that our democracy is bigger than any of us.

Let’s be clear: Joe Biden and won a victory of 306 electoral votes in the electoral college, the same margin that President Trump won by in 2016 when he called it a landslide.

Nearly 7 million of my fellow Pennsylvanians braved this devastating pandemic and economic crisis to cast their ballots, culminating in a total turnout of more than 70 percent, the highest in the history of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. And nationwide, we saw record-breaking turnout.

Both in Pennsylvania and nationally, the President’s efforts to overturn the election results in the courts failed resoundingly, with many of the strongest rebukes coming from judges the President himself appointed.

In fact, contrary to the assertion of my colleague from Georgia across the aisle, not a single lawsuit in Pennsylvania alleged fraud. The gentlewoman may not be aware of this, but allegations of fraud require specificity and detail, and no lawyer could risk his or her license to make such false claims.

I am heartened that several of the country’s leading Republicans, including Senate Republican Majority Leader, Senator , and former Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, have spoken out against this political stunt.

Senator said: “The egregious ploy to reject electors may enhance the political ambition of some, but dangerously threatens our democratic Republic.”

And as former Republican Representative Charlie Dent from my district said, the claim by the President of voter fraud in our State “was simply reprehensible; the truth is that he suppressed his own vote by discouraging mail-in voting.”

And as Pennsylvania State Senator Gene Yaw, also a Republican, has said: “My question is, if the mail-in voting of Act 77 was so bad, why did The Trump Organization send out a mail-in ballot application to every registered Republican in the State?”

Today, I am thinking of all of the people who took the time to do their civic duty and vote, many standing in long lines or painstakingly researching how to vote by mail correctly.

We reject these disgraceful attacks on the voters of Pennsylvania and this attempt to throw out their votes.

To those in this Chamber who may cynically believe that stoking the forces of disinformation and division may be worth a short-term benefit to their political careers, I would urge serious self-reflection.

Our democracy is one of the most precious resources of the American people, protected against enormous odds and at great sacrifice by each generation of servicemembers and everyday citizens who put their lives on the line to build a freer and more equitable nation. They deserve better than what is happening in this Chamber today. Mr. SMUCKER. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of the objection.

The SPEAKER. The gentleman from Pennsylvania is recognized for 5 minutes. Mr. SMUCKER. Madam Speaker, I would like to start by making two basic points:

Number one, individual States who administer elections must ensure that they are conducted fairly, uniformly, and in accordance with the law; and

Number two, every American wants to be, and deserves to be, confident that our elections are secure and that all eligible legal votes are counted accurately and in a transparent manner.

And I will say this. In my district in Lancaster and York Counties, I think that occurred. I am very proud of my county election officials, who upheld the Pennsylvania Constitution and followed the letter of the law; but, unfortunately, that sentiment is not shared across the Commonwealth.

Today, my objection is not about voter fraud; it is grounded on unconstitutional measures taken by bureaucrats and partisan justices in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that have unlawfully changed how this election was carried out. This potentially changed the outcome and certainly caused millions of our States’ voters to question the election results. Other speakers have outlined this issue.

In brief, the Pennsylvania State Legislature, in 2019, passed a bipartisan election law reform bill, and then the partisan Pennsylvania Supreme Court took it upon themselves to rewrite that law just 7 weeks before the election. They unlawfully legislated from the bench and made substantive changes to the law, including allowing for unsecured drop boxes and ordering that ballots received after the election be counted, among other things.

The Pennsylvania Secretary of State took it even further. Her unilateral, unconstitutional changes resulted in counties treating ballots differently so that some voters had the opportunity to change mail-in ballots to correct deficiencies, while in other counties, their ballots simply were not counted.

As Members of Congress, we serve as a voice for our constituents. This is the one time I have a voice in this process, and I cannot simply look away when tens of thousands of my constituents have real and legitimate concerns about how this election was conducted in Pennsylvania.

In fact, I think an inadequate response to those concerns by Pennsylvania officials is one of the major problems. Simple measures like audits should be routine and random and supported by both parties, and I believe they are critical for restoring faith in Pennsylvania’s elections moving forward.

The bottom line for my constituents is that Pennsylvania’s officials, at all levels, failed to conduct a uniform and legal election, and for that reason, they inappropriately and unlawfully certified the State’s electors. Madam Speaker, I yield the balance of my time to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. ), my colleague. Mr. KELLER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. ) for yielding.

Madam Speaker, the violence that occurred in the Capitol today was shameful, unacceptable, and un-American. We are a nation of laws, not lawlessness, and we will never give in to the mob.

Thank you to the men and women of our Capitol Police and other law enforcement agencies who heroically defended this building.

The criminal behavior we witnessed today does not erase the facts before us.