WNC'S MEADOWS VOTED "NO" ON DEMOCRATS ELECTION REFORM

- On Friday, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) voted NO on H.R. 1, “the For the People Act”—House Democrats’ first major legislative priority since the 116th Congress began.

Rep. Meadows released the following statement explaining his vote on the bill:

“H.R. 1 should’ve been called the “For the Politicians” Act, because that’s exactly what it is—a bill that overhauls America’s election system for the benefit of nothing more than incumbent and career politicians. The bill takes hard-earned taxpayer money and spins it into campaign cash, funneling it straight into the pockets of Washington D.C. politicians. It forces people to participate in an electoral system, whether or not they want to, trampling on First Amendment rights. It seizes rights and authority that should belong to states and individuals, and instead redirects them to Congress’s already over-inflated power complex. It even provides your tax-payer dollars as “vouchers” that recipients then have to turn around donate to a politician.

House Democrats disguised this bill as a reform to give power back to the people, but in reality, H.R. 1 did the exact opposite. If we really want to return power back to the people, why don’t we rein in spending? Why don’t we return regulatory authority away from agencies and back to people’s representatives?

This bill is a power and money grab, plain and simple, and it speaks volumes that my Democrat colleagues chose to make this their first priority with their new House majority. Americans will not forget this.”

On Thursday, Rep. Meadows spoke on the House floor against the bill, blasting it as a bill designed to benefit the Washington, D.C. swamp. You can watch the full speech here.

Meadows also offered three separate amendments to H.R. 1, each addressing concerns of states’ rights and freedom of speech with political donations. All three amendments were turned down by the Rules Committee.

Meadows Amendment #38: To replace the federal “same day voter registration mandate” with a provision that would have allowed individual states to conduct voter registration as they see fit

Meadows Amendment #39: To remove the caps on direct contributions to candidates from individuals, and requiring donations of more than $200 to be disclosed within 24 hours. This would effectively mean eliminating the need for SuperPAC’s and nondisclosed contributions, taking power away from PAC’s and “dark money” and returning it to small dollar donors.

Meadows Amendment #40: To eliminate automatic voter registration, protecting First Amendment rights and allowing Americans to decide for themselves whether or not to participate in the system