WASHINGTON - The Committee on House Administration held a Full Committee Hearing today titled, "Member Day: Committee on House Administration."

Witnesses: 
  • Rep. Maxwell Frost (FL-10)
  • Rep. Andrea Salinas (OR-06)
  • Rep. Jimmy Panetta (CA-19)
  • Rep. Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03)
  • Rep. Johnny Olszewski (MD-02)
  • Rep. Seth Magaziner (RI-02)
  • Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21)
  • Rep. Buddy Carter (GA-01)
In case you missed it, here are the top takeaways:
1. Chairman Steil on SAVE Act and Enhancing Election Integrity

Chairman Bryan Steil (WI-01): In your testimony, you noted that, "non-citizens do not vote." As we have shown in this Committee, we've identified where non-citizens have gotten on the voter rolls. Where in certain situations, non-citizens have voted. It's the reason election integrity legislation such as the SAVE Act is absolutely essential to make sure that non-citizens are not voting in American elections. So to say that that is part of, as you noted, part of a, I'll quote it here, "to suppress the votes of anyone who threatens their extremist, unconstitutional, white supremacist authoritarian agenda." I would say it's common sense. Common sense to require an individual to show photo identification when they come to the polls to say that they are who they say they are, to make sure that it's only U.S. citizens voting in U.S. elections.  
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Click the image or here to view Chairman Steil's remarks. 
2. Rep. Mary Miller on accusations the SAVE Act would disenfranchise voters

Rep. Mary Miller (IL-15): I would hope that my colleague from Illinois will come to the understanding that the need for robust voter ID and election integrity laws is essential. Illinois has a long history of electoral irregularities and the citizens of Illinois deserve secure and trustworthy elections. We do not have those. I would note that the SAVE Act does have robust protections for married women whose names have changed. Arizona has a very similar statute on the books and no one has been disenfranchised. It's very disappointing that my colleague from Illinois has chosen to resort to scare tactics instead of joining the Committee's efforts to secure our elections.
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Click the image or here to view Rep. Miller's remarks. 
3. Chairman Steil on Oversees Military Voting

Chairman Bryan Steil (WI-01): We've had some great conversations in particular as it relates to making sure that our service members are able to vote overseas. Ms. Lee on this committee, the Chair of the Subcommittee on Elections, in particular has a significant interest in making sure that we're looking at additional updates to UOCAVA in this Congress and so as that debate continues, we look forward to working with you. We appreciate your interest and we're happy to work with you. As we passed your bill out of this Committee last year, and I think there's an opportunity as we look at UOCAVA, maybe a little bit more holistically, to make sure that we're making updates in that space that are needed. 
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Click the image or here to view Chairman Steil's remarks. 
4. Rep. Bice questions Rep. Roy on legislation that would ban Members from trading stocks while in office

Rep. Stephanie Bice (OK-05): As someone who made the decision when I was elected to Congress to sell all of my stocks and put everything into  EFTs and mutual funds, I understand the scrutiny and concerns that we have about this. But here's something that I struggle with, and that is, it is not just Members of Congress that I think should be included in this. I mean, our staff has access to classified information if you have that clearance. If you are looking at the judicial system, there are many judges who are looking at court cases that are anti-trust or otherwise that it could have an impact. So explain to me why we should limit this to only members of Congress and not expand this to staff and others to be able to - if we're truly interested in protecting the institution, it shouldn't just be Members of Congress that are under this, this new legislation.

Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21): Well, I'll speak for myself and, and say that, well, that's why y'all are on this great committee, right? You take in this stuff and then let's work on the legislation, let's bring it forward, let's amend it, offer ideas, and then let the legislative process work. I just think we need to let the legislative work. On the substantive question, the reason we didn't put it in the bill and the reason Abigail and I didn't put it in a while back was that we wanted to focus on this one issue. And now, when you talk about judges, you talk about executive officials, agree. Staff gets a little more complex we ask these people to come in, work in our offices, but I hear you. I'm certainly open to it, but we wanted to focus on the core problem of members, address it, and then move from there. 
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Click the image or here to view Rep. Bice's Q&A.