Joyce Joins Mark Meadows In Push To Expand Debate, Amendment Opportunities Regarding H.R.1

Congressman John Joyce (PA-13) today joined Mark Meadows and other House Republicans in an effort to ensure more transparency regarding H.R. 1, an ethics reform measure the Democrats are bringing to the floor this week that would require taxpayer dollars be used to fund political campaigns.

H.R. 1 was referred to ten committees, but only one markup was held for the legislation. As a result, in their letter to House Rules Chairman James McGovern and other Democratic leaders, Joyce and Meadows argue that extended time should be allowed for floor debate and permission to add amendments to the bill should be more expansive. Joyce and Meadows point out that these procedural provisions were offered when Republicans passed their signature legislative item in 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

The full text of the letter can be found below.

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Chairman McGovern,

CC: Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Hoyer

We thank you for your service to the country, this body and to the Committee on Rules. We write with some views on the consideration of H.R. 1 as you continue to confer with your colleagues in the majority and the minority regarding the appropriate procedure.

This five-hundred-page plus legislation has been referred to ten different committees, and has been the subject of only a single markup, in House Administration, on which serve only three Republican members. In light of these facts, we urge you to be expansive in permitting floor amendments to this legislation. In our view, it would be a poor showing for this House to pass a bill intended to expand the ability of Americans to participate in the political process through a process that restricted the participation of their elected representatives.

We would also urge you in your capacity as Rules Chairman to grant additional time to debate on the floor and to debate amendments. The National Voter Registration Act rule would have provided an hour of debate for the single amendment that it made in order. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act rule provided for four hours of general debate. At the time, we were proud to debate the savings and additional prosperity we believed the bill would help bring to the American people. We have no doubt the current majority is as proud to defend H.R. 1 on the floor of the House as the previous majority was to defend the tax reform bill. We hope that you can provide a similar length of time for discussion.

We appreciate your consideration of these views.

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Under H.R.1, the federal government would provide a 6-1 match for candidates for president and Congress, which means for every dollar a candidate raises from small donations, the federal government would match it six times over. This would result in taxpayer dollars being used to fund campaigns of candidates they may not agree with.

The Americans Civil Liberty Union opposes H.R. 1 in its current form, saying it andldquo;unconstitutionally impinges on the free speech rights of American citizens and public interest organizations," and that elements of the legislation, "will have the effect of harming our public discourse by silencing necessary voices that would otherwise speak out about the public issues of the day."