COCOA Act of 2024

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and concur in the Senate amendment to the bill (H.R. 6513) to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to confirm the requirement that States allow access to designated congressional election observers to observe the election administration procedures in congressional elections.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the Senate amendment to the bill, H.R. 6513.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Senate amendment to H.R. 6513, the Confirmation of Congressional Observer Access Act, or COCOA Act.

Ensuring the fairness and accuracy of our elections is of utmost importance for me as chairman of the Committee on House Administration, which has broad oversight for our Nation's Federal elections.

The Election Observer Program is one of the key ways the committee has worked to strengthen our election administration practices.

Since 1933 there have been 110 contested election cases considered in the House. This averages to two contests per Congress.

Congressional observers collect on-the-ground factual information for Congress and my committee for these potential election contests.

During the 2020 election cycle, House election observers were deployed to Iowa's Second District to oversee the administration of the election of our now-colleague, Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks. She went on to win the contested race by only six votes, and trained House election observers were instrumental in gathering the information the committee needed to seat the rightful winner.

The Constitution grants Congress the authority to ``be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own Members.'' It is under this constitutional authority that the House

established the nonpartisan Election Observer Program.

In the 2022 election cycle, observers were deployed to roughly 25 sites across the country. Dozens of offices have already signed up to participate in this year's program for the election that concludes in just 41 days.

With the help of our colleagues in the Senate, this election is now expanded to encompass a Senate program similar to the one we run in the House.

I am working to ensure election observers can be deployed across States as needed. At a recent committee hearing, six secretaries of State from both parties testified they would provide unimpeded access to our Election Observer Program in the upcoming election. I will continue to work to ensure every State and locality across the country will welcome our observers.

Strong election integrity increases confidence and participation in our elections, which is a good thing.

Providing a Federal statutory citation for these election observers to monitor election administration practices will achieve that goal. Elections are partisan, but the administration of our elections should never be partisan.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the ranking member of the Committee on House Administration, for his work on this important legislation, as well as the staffs of both the minority and the majority for coming together in a timely manner to get this across the line as well as our colleagues in the Senate.

Mr. Speaker, having no further comments on the bill, I urge everyone to support this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 6513) to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to confirm the requirement that States allow access to designated congressional election observers to observe the election administration procedures in congressional elections.

Mr. 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 H.R. 6513, the COCOA Act of 2023.

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

I rise today in strong support of H.R. 6513, the Confirmation of Congressional Observer Access Act, or the COCOA Act. Ensuring the fairness and accuracy of our elections is of utmost importance for me as chairman of the Committee on House Administration.

The Election Observer Program is one of the key ways my committee has worked to strengthen election administration practices.

Since 1933, there have been 110 contested election cases considered in the House. This averages to over two contests per Congress.

During the 2020 election cycle, House election observers were deployed to Iowa's Second District to oversee the administration of the election of our now-colleague, Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks.

She went on to win that contested race by only six votes, and trained House election observers were instrumental in collecting on-the-ground, factual information for Congress.

The Constitution grants Congress the authority to be the ``judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own Members.'' It is under this constitutional authority that the House established the nonpartisan Election Observer Program.

In the 2022 election cycle, observers were deployed to roughly 25 sites across the country. This long-running program has deployed trained congressional staff as election observers to sites nationwide with close congressional contests.

Deploying election observers is much needed. Strong election integrity increases confidence and participation in our elections, which is a good thing.

Providing a statutory citation for these election observers to monitor election administration practices will achieve this goal.

Elections are partisan, but the administration of elections should never be partisan.

I strongly urge my colleagues to support this bill.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield such time as he may consume to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Carey) to speak on the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I further encourage the strong support of H.R. 6513, the Confirmation of Congressional Observer Access Act.

I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes,'' and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, first, let me thank my distinguished colleague and friend from Wisconsin, the chair of our committee, Mr. Steil.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Senate amendment to H.R. 6513. I am proud to say this measure is the byproduct of bipartisan and bicameral agreement.

As was noted, Article I, Section 5, Clause 1 of the Constitution grants Congress the authority to ``be the judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own Members.''

The House of Representatives serves as the final arbiter over any contest to the seating of any Member-elect and is the ultimate authority over who may serve in the Chamber.

This measure, H.R. 6513, confirms Congress' constitutional authority to designate congressional staff to observe election administration procedures in congressional elections. This bill complements our longstanding Election Observer Program, as has been noted.

The program is conducted by the Committee on House Administration, as authorized by House rules and the Federal Contested Elections Act. The role of a congressional observer is to monitor the administration of the election, gather information, and report back to the committee.

Every 2 years, the committee's longstanding practice is to work collaboratively on a bipartisan basis to send observers. There is evidence of the committee sending observers dating back to at least the 99th Congress, 1985 to 1987.

Mr. Speaker, I want to, again, repeat that I am grateful to my colleague and chairman of the committee, Mr. Steil, as well as another colleague who serves on our committee, Representative Mike Carey of Ohio, for sponsoring the bill. This addresses several concerns raised in committee with an earlier version of the text, and I thank them for working with us. I thank the staff on both sides for coming to this agreement.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support the Senate amendment to H.R. 6513, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6513. I am proud to say this measure is the by-product of bipartisan agreement.

Article I, Section 5, Clause 1 of the Constitution grants Congress the authority to be the ``judge of the elections, returns, and qualifications of its own Members.''

The House of Representatives serves as the final arbiter over any contest to the seating of any putative Member-elect.

Simply put, this measure, H.R. 6513, confirms Congress' constitutional authority to designated congressional staff to observe election administration procedures in congressional elections.

I am grateful to my colleague, Chairman Steil, for agreeing to address several concerns raised in committee with an earlier version of the text.

For example, we were able to agree on the need to preserve the authority of local election officials to remove an observer who is being disruptive or interfering with the elections process, as well as the additional language stating our sense that all House employees deployed as observers must adhere to the Code of Official Conduct while serving in this role.

It is important to balance transparency with security, and at a time when election officials across the country have raised concerns about safety, security, and privacy, we should hold ourselves and our staff to the highest standards.

We are glad to have worked with Chairman Steil and his staff to reach a bipartisan agreement.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 6513, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I thank the lead sponsor of the bill, Mr. Carey,

both for his leadership on this bill and for his partnership on the Modernization Subcommittee.

Mr. Speaker, I have no further speakers, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of my bill, H.R. 6513, the Confirmation of Congressional Observer Access Act, or COCOA Act of 2023. It will provide a statutory citation for the long-running, nonpartisan Election Observer Program.

This program has trained and equipped congressional staff to serve as election observers during close election contests.

As we have seen or just heard, election contests can come down to just six votes.

This critical program adds the added layer of accountability for the American people during those close contests.

Ensuring our elections are fair, factual, and accurate is of utmost importance.

I have been proud to work with my colleagues on the Committee on House Administration this Congress to strengthen our Nation's elections.

This program is a strong election integrity measure, and I encourage all of my colleagues to support it.