Election Support Consolidation and Efficiency Act

Floor Speech

Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, today I voted against H.R. 672, a bill that ends the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), an independent and bipartisan commission whose main function is to improve and oversee elections in the U.S.

This bill would transfer much of the EAC's responsibilities and funds to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), whose main priority is not election administration, but rather enforcing federal campaign laws. In a letter to the House Administration Committee, the FEC noted that they could ``contract with outside groups to fulfill aspects of the EAC's responsibilities.'' Facilitating free and fair elections is an inherently governmental function that should not be outsourced.

The world's leading democracy should not affix a price on free and fair elections, but that is exactly what Congress does in this legislation. In effect, H.R. 672 says that preventing another crisis like the one we saw during the 2000 presidential election--where millions of Americans did not have their ballots counted due to failed voting machines--is too expensive and is not a priority.

It is deeply ironic that just as Florida--the state responsible for the bulk of voter complications in 2000 that prompted Congress to pass the Help America Vote Act--signs into law onerous voter registration requirements, Congress is dismantling a bipartisan solution that helped ensure the effective administration of elections.

This is a politicized bill that is well wide of the mark of true government reform. Simply repealing the EAC, like Republicans did with the Presidential Election Fund earlier this year, further undermines America's democracy and is a step in the wrong direction. I oppose this legislation.

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