Congressional Record/Volume 167/Issue 4/House/Counting Electoral Votes/Pennsylvania Objection Debate/Kelly Speech
Mr. Kelly of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, this has been an interesting day. And I know we want to debate this, and we brought up all kinds of things, all kinds of points of history and what happened and where it happened and all the rest of this, and we are very, very grateful to the Capitol Police and all those who came in to protect us.
But the real debate right now about Pennsylvania is Pennsylvania’s Act 77. Was it constitutional or was it unconstitutional? All the rest of the trimmings you can set aside and just decide: Was it constitutional or unconstitutional?
Act 77 changed Pennsylvania’s voting law and Pennsylvania’s Constitution.
Now, Pennsylvania could change that law, but it is done through an amendment to the constitution. It is not just done because somebody would like to see that done.
We had a mail ballot that was available. It was an absentee ballot. We did not have a no-excuse ballot.
What did Pennsylvania have to do to get to the point where they would have a no-excuse mail-in ballot?
Number one, in two successive sessions of the Pennsylvania Legislature, that had to be passed in that legislation, one session after the other. If it passed both times, then it had to be published in every one of the 67 counties of Pennsylvania, twice. When that was finished, it then had to go before the Pennsylvania voters to decide whether they wanted the constitution amended.
Pennsylvania did the first one. They actually did take a vote, and it was overwhelming. But then they scrapped it, and they put it in an omnibus bill. That is an unconstitutional change. You cannot do it. It is that simple.
So I love the idea about Washington crossing the Delaware. I love the idea about Washington going through a terrible winter.
I hate the idea of what we had to go through today. But if oaths don’t matter, and we have all taken them, and if the Constitution doesn’t matter, why do we even do it? Why go through this charade that somehow we are really close friends, except when it comes to the really important things?
We have driven this country apart through the people’s House, and we wonder what happened?
The biggest loss on November 3 was not by Donald Trump; it was the faith and trust that the American people lost in this voting system because we have allowed it to happen. It is unconstitutional.