Hartzler Rejects Legislation to "Protect the Swamp"

Statement

Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler (MO-04) today voted against H.R. 1, a bill designed to further entrench elected officials and force taxpayers to finance politicians' campaigns with which they may disagree. This legislation represents a massive government overreach in America's election system allowing sitting elected officials to unfairly influence elections while mandating voter registration and allowing convicted felons to vote. The House voted on H.R. 1 on Friday, and it passed by a vote of 234-193.

"This bill is not for the people, it's for the politicians," Hartzler said. "It's a massive overreach by the federal government and it forces voters to subsidize political agendas with which they may disagree. Under this bill, certain voters would receive vouchers paid for by other taxpayers to donate to the politician of their choosing. It further puts in place massive government "matching' programs that further fund politicians' campaigns. To make matters worse, it politicizes the bipartisan Federal Election Commission by placing it under the control of the ruling political party. At the heart of democracy is the idea that everyone's voice can be heard. This legislation fails to do that. In fact, it does quite the opposite - it simply protects the swamp," added Hartzler.

Hartzler added that this bill would create a mechanism through which taxpayers foot the majority of the bill for Congressional and Presidential campaigns, while increasing federal oversight of elections by usurping states' ability to make their own rules for free and fair elections. It would further impede free speech by creating a laundry list of new regulations for groups speaking about federal candidates. The bill even allows felons to vote and institutes automatic voter registration whether someone wants to register or not. In some cases, under this bill, voters would not even be required to show photo identification.

"This bill is an assault on freedom of speech and hampers our democracy," Hartzler said. "Instead of investing taxpayer dollars into education and infrastructure, Democrats want to force the American people to pay for their campaigns. This is inexcusable," added Hartzler.

Specifically, H.R. 1 would:

Send government money to fund political campaigns. Not to build roads or bridges, but to add 600% of taxpayer dollars to every small dollar donated by Americans. (e.g., Steve from Missouri donates $200 to his preferred candidate. Now, you, the taxpayer, will chip in another $1200.)
Legalize voting for convicted felons all over the country, even if they were convicted of election fraud.
Weaken the security of our elections and make it harder to protect against voter fraud. It would automatically register voters from government databases, allow absentee ballots to be mailed to voters with no voter verification, and force states and local governments to pay for the ballots to be mailed back.
Award $25 vouchers (paid for with government funds) to certain voters to donate to a candidate of their choosing.
Trample free speech by requiring the publishing of names and home addresses of certain donors to organizations who advocate for a candidate.
Make the Federal Election Commission (FEC), which is currently bipartisan, a partisan body, conveniently weaponizing it to entrench whoever is in power.
Eliminate the need for a voter to provide photo identification if he/she submits a sworn statement verifying his/her identity. This move would leave our system wide open to increased voter fraud.
While everyone else has to work, it would give federal workers a free day to vote by making Election Day a federal holiday.
Obliterate local and state oversight of elections by imposing federal regulations that require states to allow automatic voter registration, online voter registration, and same-day voter registration with no safeguards.
Fail to criminalize fraudulent voter registration.

Source