Urging the President and Congress to take actions to fill vacancies on the Election Assistance Commission.

[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 311 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 311

Urging the President and Congress to take actions to fill vacancies on 
                  the Election Assistance Commission.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             July 19, 2013

     Mr. Hoyer (for himself, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Clyburn, Mr. Larson of 
Connecticut, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Langevin, Ms. 
 Fudge, Mr. Hinojosa, and Ms. Chu) submitted the following resolution; 
      which was referred to the Committee on House Administration

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Urging the President and Congress to take actions to fill vacancies on 
                  the Election Assistance Commission.

Whereas the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) was established by the Help 
        America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) on a bipartisan basis, with the approval 
        of 357 Members of the House of Representatives and 92 Senators;
Whereas under section 202 of HAVA (42 U.S.C. 15322), the EAC was established to 
        ``serve as a national clearinghouse and resource for the compilation of 
        information and review of procedures with respect to the administration 
        of Federal elections'', and its conferences, reference works, and 
        instructional videos have saved State and local governments and election 
        officials millions of dollars since its establishment;
Whereas the EAC was established by Congress to help it carry out its duty to 
        oversee Federal elections as provided in article I, section IV of the 
        Constitution of the United States while respecting the primary role of 
        States in the administration of elections;
Whereas EAC's guidance can help States avoid contested elections that can cost 
        tens of millions of dollars and 2012's Hurricane Sandy showed how 
        election administrators can need the help that EAC's Federal experts can 
        provide in dealing with unexpected situations such as natural disasters, 
        both of which demonstrate the value of EAC-produced materials covering 
        Election Management Guidelines and Contingency and Disaster Planning and 
        of having a Federal agency that election officials can call upon for 
        guidance and advice in the event that an election may be affected by 
        unusual circumstances;
Whereas HAVA strives to ensure that the EAC is bipartisan by authorizing ``the 
        Majority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of 
        Representatives, the Minority Leader of the Senate, and the Minority 
        Leader of the House of Representatives'' under section 203 of the Act 
        (42 U.S.C. 15323) to each submit recommendations to the President for 
        nominations of individuals to serve as commissioners; and
Whereas in spite of the great value that the EAC has provided to Federal, State, 
        and particularly local governments in administering their elections 
        efficiently as well as effectively, the EAC has been without a working 
        quorum of commissioners since 2010 and without any commissioners since 
        December 2011, denying the American people the full assistance the 
        Commission can provide: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) urges the Majority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of 
        the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the 
        Senate, and the Minority Leader of the House of 
        Representatives, to exercise the authority granted by section 
        203 of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (42 U.S.C. 15323) by 
        each submitting to the President a recommendation for a 
        candidate to fill their respective vacancies on the Election 
        Assistance Commission;
            (2) urges President Obama to consider such recommendations 
        promptly and to submit to the Senate nominations to fill all 4 
        vacancies;
            (3) urges the Committee on Rules and Administration of the 
        Senate to hold hearings and votes promptly on those 
        nominations; and
            (4) urges the full Senate to provide each nominee who is 
        reported favorably by the Committee with an up-or-down vote on 
        confirmation.
                                 <all>