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McCollum Proposes Amendment to Defund Trump’s Sham Election Commission

July 12, 2017

Congresswoman Betty McCollum (DFL-Minn.) will offer an amendment tomorrow in the House Appropriations Committee to bar the use of any federal funds for President Donald Trump's sham "election integrity" commission.

"President Trump's sham election commission exists to justify his outrageous falsehoods about ‘illegal voting' and to further the Republican Party's voter suppression agenda," Congresswoman McCollum said. "This commission is an affront to our democracy and a waste of taxpayer dollars. The American people should not have to foot the bill to indulge President Trump's Twitter rants and conspiracy theories."

The commission, formally known as Presidential Advisory Committee on Election Integrity, was established after President Trump repeatedly peddled outrageous claims that about illegal voting during the 2016 presidential election — an election he lost by nearly three million votes. These claims have been roundly rejected by election officials and experts. In response to President Trump's comments, the National Association of Secretaries of State said, "we are not aware of any evidence that supports the voter fraud claims made by President Trump."

Chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, the commission includes Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the architect of some of the nation's harshest anti-voting rights legislation. Since 2010, Republicans like Vice President Pence and Secretary Kobach have championed legislation to impose onerous voter ID requirements, make it harder for citizens to register, and limit access to early voting. In one of its first official acts, the commission requested sensitive personal information about all American voters. A bipartisan coalition of Secretaries of State and chief election officials soundly rejected the commission's request, which has also been challenged in federal court.

Congresswoman McCollum's amendment will be offered during the House Appropriations Committee's consideration of the fiscal year 2018 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill. The amendment is a simple, one-sentence proposal: "None of the funds made available by this Act may be used for the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, as established under Executive Order 13799 (82 Fed. Reg. 22389; relating to ‘‘Establishment of Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity'')."