The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“DEFENDING MOTION TO RECOMMIT” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H5872-H5873 on Nov. 18, 2020.
The Department is one of the oldest in the US, focused primarily on law enforcement and the federal prison system. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, detailed wasteful expenses such as $16 muffins at conferences and board meetings.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
DEFENDING MOTION TO RECOMMIT
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Budd) for 5 minutes.
Mr. BUDD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to sound the alarm that House Democrats are considering a rule change that would severely limit the rights of the minority party in the House for years to come.
I am referring to the partisan push to water down or to eliminate the motion to recommit.
Mr. Speaker, the MTR, as it is called, is a critical procedural tool that gives the minority party one last opportunity to improve legislation before a final vote on this House floor. An MTR not only increases transparency between Members of Congress and their constituents, but it holds Members accountable and forces them to go on record for viewpoints that they hold.
Weakening the MTR would only serve to shield Members from criticism, suffocate debate on key policy issues, and overturn longstanding House precedent. It would be a blatant power grab by the majority Democrat Party.
That is why my colleagues and I will be appealing to the Rules Committee this week in writing, demanding that the MTR be preserved.
Confronting Voter Fraud
Mr. BUDD. Mr. Speaker, for the past 2 weeks, I have heard from an overwhelming number of my constituents, and they do not have confidence in the integrity of November's election.
They are outraged that media pundits and establishment Democrat politicians are sneering at the very concept of taking the time to ensure that every legal vote is counted and that every illegal vote is thrown out.
Every citizen has a right to seek justice in a court of law, and that includes the President of the United States. His legal team needs to be given the time to collect and present evidence of voting and tabulation irregularities.
Until the courts have played their constitutional role, we should be wary of declaring winners and losers.
Look, if we could spend 2 years investigating conspiracy theories about Russian collusion, we should be able to take a few weeks to confirm the integrity of this election.
I am glad that Attorney General Bill Barr authorized the Department of Justice to investigate any and all allegations of illegal activity. He took this necessary step after 38 of my House colleagues and I requested that the Department leave no stone unturned in this effort.
We will also be introducing legislation this very week that will require the DOJ to create a national strategy to identify and combat voter intimidation, fraud, ballot system glitches, sabotage, and hacking.
Mr. Speaker, voting is the most sacred civic duty in our Nation. In an election for our Nation's highest office, involving unprecedented levels of mail-in voting, we must take the time to ensure that every legal vote is counted and every illegal vote is not counted.
Nothing is more important than the integrity of our ballots.
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