Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, U.S. Representative Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04), released the following statement after voting against H.R. 1:

“This bill hijacks our election process and promotes voter fraud.  We cannot condone voter disenfranchisement.  Fraudulent voters dilute real voters,” said Congressman Gosar. “The Democrats bill is a direct attack on our country’s elections. It undermines free speech, it lines the pockets of politicians with taxpayer dollars and ultimately chips away at the core of our democracy. I firmly stand against the Democrats efforts to rig elections.”

Background HR 1:  (Courtesy of Republican Study Committee)

H.R 1 makes various changes to voting laws, campaign finance laws, and ethics practices, in contravention of Americans’ First Amendment rights and States’ primary constitutional authorities to regulate elections.

According to its incomplete estimate, the bill would increase spending by $2.438 billion over FY 2019 – 2024. Congressional Budget Office (CBO) assumes that the legislation will be enacted in 2019 and that the specified and estimated amounts will be appropriated for each fiscal year, including supplemental amounts in 2019.

• Infringes upon the First Amendment, effectively choosing what speech qualifies as free speech and which Americans are afforded access to the Constitutionally provided privilege of free speech.
   
• Federalizes the election process, violating the Election Clause and principles of the Tenth Amendment by requiring states to adopt numerous voting laws that make election security weaker, encourage voting in multiple jurisdictions, encourage fraudulent voting, and weaken voter ID laws.
   
• Makes it extraordinarily difficult to check voter eligibility and to remove ineligible or duplicative voters from their rolls, despite the Supreme Court sanctioning certain practices. It would prevent states from comparing voter registration lists to check if voters are registered in multiple jurisdictions.
   
• Provides the foundation to force Americans to give their hard earned money to political candidates they do not support through a federal matching program and a voucher program, essentially subsidizing political campaigns. The manager’s amendment added language that would provide for new assessments of 2.75 percent on certain criminal and civil penalties and settlements that would go to the Treasury’s General Fund where it would be intermingled with all taxpayer money, and then an equal amount would be transferred to the Freedom From Influence Fund which pays for these programs.