Steil and Republicans Can't Stop Passage of Elections Bill

WASHINGTON DC —The bill known as H.R.1, or the "For the People Act," was adopted 220 to 210 by the House late Wednesday. The vote was mostly along party lines.

According to CNN.com, Democrats describe the 791-page bill as anti-corruption legislation that would expand voting access and improve accountability and transparency in Washington.

However, the bill requires 60 votes in the Senate to advance, and that seems unlikely.

In opposition to the bill, many Republicans argued that states are better positioned than the federal government to determine how to conduct fair elections. Some Republicans said the bill would lead to rampant fraud that would help liberal candidates, according to the New York Times.

A day before the bill passed, Rep. Bryan Steil (R-Janesville-01), whose district includes Milwaukee suburbs like Franklin, Greenfield, Greendale and Oak Creek, made some of these same arguments against the bill on the floor of the House. Steil said the legislation would weaken critical voter integrity provisions.

"In Wisconsin, a state with a strong voter ID law, this law would allow an individual to vote without an ID by simply providing a sworn statement. That's it." Steil said.

Steil said the bill also would legalize ballot harvesting and allow federal funding of congressional campaigns.

"Not once have I had a voter tell me that the problem with our elections is that there is not enough money," Steil said.

Steil concluded his remarks by saying we need to protect our elections systems and protect the integrity of our elections.

"This bill nationalizes our elections, weakens voter integrity, is an affront to the 1st Amendment and is a poor use of government money," Steil said.

After the vote, Steil released a statement on social media.

Democrats, meanwhile, said the bill would help stop efforts to suppress the vote.

"When you look at what Republicans are doing across the country in statehouses to roll back access to the ballot box, we need to do what we can to establish baseline standards and best practices that allow people to register and vote in America without it being an obstacle course for them," Rep. John Sarbanes (D-Maryland), one of the authors of the bill, told CNN.

Read more at CNN.com.

Read Steil's remarks on the House floor.

Read more at NYTimes.com.