Vote by Mail Tracking Act

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, regardless of party affiliation, every voting American wants to be confident that their ballot will get processed. No matter who we vote for, we all want our ballots to get smoothly to their final destination on time to be counted.

After all, this desire applies to anything important that we want processed. When was the last time anyone here sent a family heirloom through the mail to their relative without getting a tracking number? Who hasn't tracked an order of clothing or medicine at least once? I don't know about you, but for me, it is comforting to know what city my new shoes are in when they are being shipped so I know they are truly on the way.

Ballots are so much more important than shoes. When something is important to us, we all want to know it is in good hands, and our ballots are no exception.

Fortunately, the United States Postal Service created a tracking barcode for mail-in ballots, but unfortunately, right now, not everyone gets to use ballot envelopes that meet the Postal Service design requirements. That is why I joined Republican Representatives Byron Donalds and Nancy Mace in introducing the Vote by Mail Tracking Act, to fix that problem.

Under this nonpartisan bill, every ballot envelope will meet Postal Service standards and get a tracking barcode. Voters of all political stripes can have confidence that their ballot is accounted for along the journey to our election officials.

This commonsense modernization can improve transparency and trust in our elections for Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike. That is exactly why this bill is led by 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats who represent every major ideological caucus in the House. That includes both Chairman Comer and Ranking Member Raskin, two people named Jamie who couldn't be more different but both cosponsor this bill.

Madam Speaker, it just doesn't get more bipartisan than this bill. These days, it can be hard enough just to get Democrats to agree with Democrats and Republicans to agree with Republicans in this Congress, let alone to have conservatives, moderates, progressives, and Members somewhere in between all teaming up to back legislation. The Vote by Mail Tracking Act has support from every corner of the House because it is not partisan. It is just good policy.

If the shipment carrying Christmas presents that I order online is trackable, then we should certainly all expect something as valuable and as sacred as our ballots to be trackable, too.

This bill doesn't just make things more streamlined for the American people; it also makes processing easier and more efficient for the Postal Service, reducing its burden and making efficient use of taxpayer dollars.

I thank all of my colleagues who cosponsored this legislation and unanimously voted to advance it out of the Oversight Committee. I give a special thank-you to Chairman Comer, Ranking Member Raskin, and their staff for their work on this bill.

The Vote by Mail Tracking Act is truly a reflection that it is still possible, even in this political moment, to find consensus in Washington and come together on real solutions. I urge every single Member of this body to support it.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I have no further speakers. I urge the passage of H.R. 5658, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5658) to amend title 39, United States Code, to require mail-in ballots to use the Postal Service barcode service, and for other purposes, as amended.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 5658, the Vote by Mail Tracking Act.

Every American citizen who votes deserves to know that their vote has been counted and their voice has been heard.

This bill, the Vote by Mail Tracking Act, would ensure that this is the case. H.R. 5658 requires that all ballots for Federal election mailed within the United States to or from a voter contain a Postal Service barcode. This barcode would allow voters to track the status of their ballot in the United States Postal Service system, allowing voters to know in real time when their

ballot is received by the Postal Service, when it is in transit, and when it has arrived at their election authority.

Beyond a Postal Service barcode, under the bill, a ballot must meet other requirements, including utilizing the Postal Service's envelope design standards. Additionally, the ballot must include the official election mail logo or any future logo the Postal Service establishes for ballots.

While I encourage every citizen who wishes to vote in person on election day to do so, many States have adopted vote-by-mail policies. We must take the integrity of our elections serious and account for the fact that a significant number of Americans choose to cast their ballots by mail.

This bill is a commonsense, bipartisan response to a rising level of mail-in voting nationwide and will put in place requirements to ensure that the U.S. Postal Service can more efficiently handle and more transparently track the mailed ballots of every American citizen.

I thank my colleagues, Representatives Porter, Donalds, and Mace, for their work on this important legislation. I encourage all my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I encourage my House colleagues to support this bipartisan, commonsense bill that will help further build trust in American Federal elections in the future, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I was absent from the House during yesterday's two roll call votes. Had I been present, I would have voted in favor of both H.R. 8371 (Roll Call No. 466) and H.R. 5658 (Roll Call No. 467).

Mr. Speaker, I had to miss votes today due to travel from Illinois to Washington. Had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 466 and YEA on Roll Call No. 467.

personal explanation

Mr. Speaker, I missed the following votes, but had I been present, I would have voted YEA on Roll Call No. 466 and YEA on Roll Call No. 467.

personal explanation