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25–191 2017

MARKUP OF: H.R. 634, ELECTION ASSISTANCE 

COMMISSION TERMINATION ACT; H.R. 133, TO 

REDUCE FEDERAL SPENDING AND THE DEFICIT 

BY TERMINATING TAXPAYER FINANCING OF 

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGNS; AND 

COMMITTEE RESOLUTION 115–4, THE COMMITTEE’S VIEWS AND ESTIMATES ON THE FISCAL 

YEAR 2018 

MARKUP 

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON HOUSE 

ADMINISTRATION 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS 

FIRST SESSION 

FEBRUARY 7, 2017 

Printed for the use of the Committee on House Administration 

( 

Available on the Internet: 

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/house/administration/index.html 

(II) 

COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION

GREGG HARPER, Mississippi, Chairman 

RODNEY DAVIS, Illinois, Vice Chairman 

BARBARA COMSTOCK, Virginia 

MARK WALKER, North Carolina 

ADRIAN SMITH, Nebraska 

BARRY LOUDERMILK, Georgia 

ROBERT A. BRADY, Pennsylvania, 

Ranking Member 

ZOE LOFGREN, California 

JAMIE RASKIN, Maryland 

(1) 

MARKUP OF: H.R. 634, ELECTION ASSISTANCE 

COMMISSION TERMINATION ACT; H.R. 133, 

TO REDUCE FEDERAL SPENDING AND THE 

DEFICIT BY TERMINATING TAXPAYER FINANCING OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 

CAMPAIGNS; AND COMMITTEE RESOLUTION 

115–4, THE COMMITTEE’S VIEWS AND ESTIMATES ON THE FISCAL YEAR 2018 

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION, 

Washington, DC. 

The Committee met, pursuant to call, at 11:55 a.m., in Room 

1310, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Gregg Harper [Chairman of the Committee] presiding. 

Present: Representatives Harper, Davis, Comstock, Walker, 

Smith, Loudermilk, Brady, Lofgren, and Raskin. 

Staff Present: Sean Moran, Staff Director; Katie Patru, Deputy 

Staff Director for Outreach and Communications; Kim Betz, Senior 

Advisor; Cole Felder, Counsel; C. Maggie Moore, Legislative Clerk; 

Erin McCracken, Communications Director; Rob Taggart, Deputy 

Legislative Clerk/Oversight; Alex Attebery, Staff Assistant; Jamie 

Fleet, Minority Staff Director; Matt Pinkus, Minority Senior Policy 

Advisor; Khalil Abboud, Minority Chief Counsel; Eddie Flaherty, 

Minority Chief Clerk; and Meredith Connor, Minority Staff Assistant. 

The CHAIRMAN. I now call to order the Committee on House Administration for today’s Committee meeting. A quorum is present 

so we may proceed. The meeting record will remain open for 5 legislative days so that Members may submit any materials that they 

wish to be included therein. 

There are three items that we have on our docket today. First, 

H.R. 634, eliminating the Election Assistance Commission; second, 

H.R. 133, eliminating the Presidential Election Campaign Fund; 

and, finally, Committee Resolution 115–4, the Committee’s Views 

and Estimates on the Fiscal Year 2018. 

Our first measure, H.R. 634, ends the Election Assistance Commission. H.R. 634 transfers the Election Assistance Commission’s 

few remaining functions to the Federal Election Commission. It is 

my firm belief that the EAC has outlived its usefulness and purpose. When first created after the 2000 election, the EAC was esVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:58 Jun 08, 2017 Jkt 025191 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 E:\HR\OC\A191.XXX A191
2 

tablished to distribute money to States to upgrade voting machines 

and make improvements to election processes. Early on, the EAC 

distributed more than $3.1 billion to States for these purposes. 

However, over the last several years, the EAC has yet to receive 

additional funding. Notwithstanding the lack of resources, the temporary agency remains. Most of its functions have come to a close, 

and those remaining are easily transferable to the Federal Election 

Commission. Almost all of its mandated reports have been issued. 

The EAC’s testing and certification program for voting machines is, 

for the most part, unused. For the past several years, the EAC has 

had so little substantive responsibility that it has spent more than 

half its budget on overhead expenses. It is time for the EAC to be 

officially ended. 

The next measure we will consider is H.R. 133, which eliminates 

the Presidential Election Campaign Fund altogether. In the 113th 

Congress, I introduced the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research 

Act. This important bill, which was later enacted, redirected millions of dollars in taxpayer money away from political parties’ national conventions and put it toward enhancing pediatric research 

based upon collaboration. Today, we will consider H.R. 133, introduced by Representative Tom Cole, which eliminates the Presidential Election Campaign Fund altogether and uses it to return 

funds to supplement the 10-year Pediatric Research Initiative Fund 

to fight childhood diseases and reduce the Federal deficit. 

In 2008, Barack Obama became the first candidate to reject the 

use of this funding for the general election, opting instead to use 

privately raised funds. Since then, no major primary candidate nor 

party Presidential nominee has accepted general election grants. It 

is clear that this fund is antiquated and no longer in step, with 

taxpayers making their own decisions to support a candidate. 

These funds can and should be used for a greater purpose. 

The last item before us is Committee Resolution 115–4, the Committee’s Views and Estimates of the Fiscal Year 2018. The Congressional Budget Act of 1974 requires Congressional committees 

to submit to the Committee on the Budget their views and estimates of Federal programs that will have a significant budgetary 

impact. The Committee will continue its work to conduct oversight 

and identify future potential savings at the Federal Election Commission. One way to reduce the budget needs of the FEC is to 

eliminate the Presidential Election Campaign Fund, which will be 

accomplished by one of the measures before us today. 

Lastly, the Committee supports the House’s work of coordinating 

cybersecurity practices and policies across the legislative branch. 

As an institution, we must work to be in step with today’s technology and work hard to protect data that we rely on each and 

every day. 

I would now like to recognize my colleague and the Committee’s 

Ranking Member, Mr. Brady, for the purpose of providing an opening statement. 

Mr. Brady. 

Mr. BRADY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. Chairman, despite its important mission, this is the latest of 

many repeated attempts to abolish the Election Assistance Commission. I have opposed these efforts in the past, and I oppose 

3 

them again today. The EAC is the only Federal agency charged 

with making elections more fair, accurate, accessible, and efficient. 

Election administrators across the country faced extraordinary 

challenges during the 2016 election when hackers tried to access 

voter registration database in more than 20 States. And the United 

States Senate Select Intelligence Committee recently launched a bipartisan investigation into foreign interference in the Presidential 

election. The EAC provided key support to States and municipalities facing these unprecedented difficulties, and they will continue 

to do so as they prepare for the next election. This is a time when 

we should be focusing on strengthening the only Federal agency 

charged with making elections work for all Americans, not trying 

to eliminate it. And I will also have an amendment to do just that. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Brady. 

I would now ask if any other Member of the Committee wishes 

to be recognized for the purpose of providing an opening statement. 

First, on the Republican side? 

Democratic side? 

Mr. RASKIN. If I might. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

You know, most democratic countries on Earth have a Federal 

election commission, a national election commission, that oversees 

the integrity and the honesty of the vote count and deals with all 

of the manifold problems that present themselves in an election 

system. We have just the Federal Election Commission which is focused just on campaign finance and whose dysfunction is infamous. 

The Election Assistance Commission was an attempt to bring some 

modernization and focus to our electoral process. And so, you know, 

I would prefer if we went in the other direction and we doubled 

down on it and we really tried to deal with the repeated assaults 

on people’s voting rights and the lack of uniformity and the chaos 

that often afflicts our elections. 

So, with that, I guess I will just say I am very open to listening 

to the critique of the Election Assistance Commission, and maybe 

there are things that we can do to reform it, to bolster it, to make 

it more effective. But I think that simply disbanding it at this point 

sends completely the wrong message about our commitment to integrity and uniformity in our elections. 

And I yield back. Thank you, Mr. Chair. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Raskin. 

Any other Members wish to be heard? 

I would now call up and lay before the Committee H.R. 634, a 

bill to eliminate the Election Assistance Commission. 

Without objection, the first reading is dispensed with, and the 

bill is considered read and open for amendment. 

[The bill follows:] 

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The CHAIRMAN. Would any Member like to make a statement or 

an amendment? 

Mr. Brady. 

Mr. BRADY. Yes, Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment in the nature of a substitute. 

[The amendment of Mr. Brady follows:] 

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The CHAIRMAN. Okay. 

Mr. BRADY. Again, thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The EAC was created by my friend, our Democratic whip, Steny 

Hoyer. And on a bipartisan basis, after the 2000 election, it has 

made significant progress toward improving elections administrations across the country over the past 15 years. The EAC provides 

local and State election officials with best practices information and 

voting machine certifications and other critical support. Last year, 

the Commission’s Be Ready ‘16 effort helped more than 8,000 independently operating election jurisdictions in the country prepare 

for election day. At a time when elections administrations are facing serious difficulties from threats from foreign hackers to outdated and failing voting machines, it is critical that the EAC is 

equipped with the tools it needs. That is why I urge my colleagues 

on this Committee to support this amendment to reauthorize the 

EAC until 2022. The amendment also provides necessary funding 

for requirements payments to States to be used for the upgrading 

of security of voter registration process and database and requires 

the EAC to undertake an assessment of its own cybersecurity and 

IT systems. These provisions will ensure that most States’ Federal 

elections administrators are in the position to adequately guard 

against attempted foreign influence in our elections. The EAC 

needs reformed, not replaced. And my amendment does just that. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Brady. 

Are there any other Members who wish to be recognized on the 

offered amendment? 

Ms. Lofgren, you are recognized. 

Ms. LOFGREN. I just want to speak in favor of Mr. Brady’s 

amendment. You know, thinking back to the creation of the Election Assistance Commission, this wasn’t a Democratic plan, and it 

wasn’t a Republican plan. It was a bipartisan effort. Why? Because 

we all knew that there were problems with the administration of 

elections, and the election in 2000 was a mess. And rather than 

just worry about it, we worked together, Democrats and Republicans, to put together this Commission. Now, it is not perfect. And 

I think Mr. Brady’s amendment does some important things to improve it. But to think that in light of the information we have received that databases are being attacked by Russia, that we have 

potential cyber holes in some of our voting systems, and at a time 

when some in politics are casting doubt on the integrity of the voting system itself, now is not the time to do away with the only entity at the Federal level that is obliged to try and secure the system 

itself. If not for an outcome, just for the integrity of the voting system. I think that Mr. Brady’s amendment makes important improvements. But the important thing is it wouldn’t eliminate the 

Election Assistance Commission. For the life of me, I really don’t 

understand what the rush is, what the impetus is to eliminate instead of repair and reform this important effort. So I hope that we 

can support Mr. Brady’s amendment and do so on a bipartisan 

basis as we did when the Commission itself was created. 

And, with that, I would yield back. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Ms. Lofgren. 

19 

Are there any other Members who wish to be recognized on the 

offered amendment? 

Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Chair. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Raskin, you are recognized. 

Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. I add my voice 

in support of the Ranking Member’s amendment in the nature of 

a substitute. We have just come out of a Presidential election which 

has been roundly criticized on all sides for various inadequacies 

and problems that arose. Sixteen intelligence agencies of the 

United States, our entire intelligence community, issued a report 

demonstrating, at least to my satisfaction, that there was a deliberate campaign of cyber sabotage, espionage, fake news, and propaganda directed at the Presidential campaign by Vladimir Putin and 

agents of the Russian Government from Moscow. President Trump 

himself has said that there were 3 to 4 million fraudulent votes 

cast. And there have been criticisms in a number of the States of 

various legal changes that have taken place. Those changes actually took place in the context of the Supreme Court’s 5–to–4 ruling 

in Shelby County v. Holder, which removed the heart of the Voting 

Rights Act by essentially emasculating the pre-clearance requirement, which had been in place for 50 years. So this was first Presidential election in a half century where we did not have the advanced protections of the Voting Rights Act for the pre-clearance of 

changes taking place at the State level. And so I think it would 

send a dangerous message to the people of the United States and 

to the world for us now to essentially abolish the only Federal 

agency we have tasked with looking at the problems in our election 

system. And I think that the Ranking Member’s idea of reforming 

the Election Assistance Commission dealing with whatever problems have come up makes a lot more sense than simply scrapping 

it altogether. 

I yield back, thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Raskin. 

Any other Members wishing to be heard on this amendment? 

Seeing none, the question is on the amendment offered to H.R. 

634. 

All those in favor of this amendment, signify by saying aye. 

All those opposed, signify by saying nay. 

In the opinion of the chair, the nays have it, and the motion is 

not agreed to. 

Any other amendments? 

Mr. BRADY. I request a recorded vote. 

The CHAIRMAN. A recorded vote has been requested. So the clerk 

will call the roll. 

The CLERK. Mr. Davis. 

Mr. DAVIS. Nay. 

The CLERK. Mr. Davis votes nay. 

Mrs. Comstock. 

Mrs. COMSTOCK. Nay. 

The CLERK. Mrs. Comstock votes nay. 

Mr. Walker. 

Mr. WALKER. Nay. 

The CLERK. Mr. Walker votes nay. 

Mr. Smith. 

20 

Mr. SMITH. Nay. 

The CLERK. Mr. Smith votes nay. 

Mr. Loudermilk. 

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Nay. 

The CLERK. Mr. Loudermilk votes nay. 

Mr. Brady. 

Mr. BRADY. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Brady votes aye. 

Ms. Lofgren. 

Ms. LOFGREN. Yes. 

The CLERK. Ms. Lofgren votes aye. 

Mr. Raskin. 

Mr. RASKIN. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Raskin votes aye. 

Chairman Harper. 

The CHAIRMAN. No. 

The CLERK. Chairman Harper votes no. 

The ayes, three; noes, six. 

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The CHAIRMAN. The nays have it, and the amendment is not 

agreed to. 

Are there any other amendments? 

Ms. Lofgren is recognized for the purpose of presenting an 

amendment. 

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment. As I have 

indicated earlier, I think it is a big mistake to eliminate—— 

The CHAIRMAN. The amendment is considered as read. 

[The amendment of Ms. Lofgren follows:] 

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Ms. LOFGREN. Thank you—to eliminate the Commission itself. 

But if that is the intent of the majority, it seems that we should 

not do that at least until the EAC has provided—has completed a 

very important function, and that is administering the payments to 

States to allow them to upgrade their State voter registration databases and processes. This is a critical task and particularly in light 

of the attempted breaches of 20 State voter registration databases 

last year. The EAC is the only Federal agency tasked with improving election administration. It is in a unique position to provide 

this important support to the States. And I think that, even if the 

majority believes the Commission should go away, this task needs 

to be completed first. You know, we are lucky in California. Our 

Secretary of State is also an electrical engineer and a computer 

savvy guy. He has really taken hold of this. But that is variable 

among the States. 

And to think that, although there is no evidence that the actual 

vote totals were tampered with by foreign aggressors, cyber aggressors, there is evidence of attempts to manipulate the voter registration database. It would be a mistake for us to think that you 

couldn’t affect the outcome of an election in that way. And it could 

go either way. I mean, you could go and take a profile of individuals who are likely to vote Republican and mess with their registrations. Or, likewise, you could do the same thing to voters who 

are likely to vote Democrat. You could affect the impact—you 

could—the outcome of an election by manipulating the database. 

And so it is really, really important that all of the States have their 

database security in place. Some are ahead of others. 

But the EAC is in a key role to provide that assistance. So let’s 

let them finish that. Even if you don’t like—and I don’t understand 

why—you don’t like the other activities, it would really be a big, 

big mistake to eliminate this before that function is accomplished. 

So that is my amendment. I hope that we can agree to do this. 

With that, I would yield back. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Ms. Lofgren. 

Are there another other Members who wish to be heard on this 

amendment? 

Mr. Brady, you’re recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. BRADY. Mr. Chairman, I support Ms. Lofgren’s amendment. 

We can’t expect our local election officials to be cybersecurity experts, nor should they have to confront foreign governments trying 

to undermine our elections. This amendment supports them, and I 

hope that our colleagues will support it. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Brady. 

Any other Members wishing to be heard on this? 

Mr. RASKIN. Mr. Chair. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Raskin, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. RASKIN. Thank you very much. 

I also support this and think it is absolutely essential if we are 

going to proceed with dissolving the Election Assistance Commission. Again, we all know the election that we just came out of. We 

know the findings of the intelligence agencies of the United States. 

We certainly don’t want to turn a blind eye to the fact that there 

was cyber sabotage, cyber espionage, and an attempt to derail the 

electoral process of the world’s first great democracy. And I think 

26 

it is a very small concession on the part of the majority simply to 

say that we should upgrade the security of the States’ voter registration lists and voter registration processes before we simply disband the whole process. And I hope that we would all be able to 

agree on a bipartisan basis that is something we can do. 

We have also learned that there continue to be a number of problems bedeviling the voter registration process. And this came out, 

of course, after the President asserted that there were millions of 

fraudulent votes cast. And turns out that there are lots of people 

affiliated with the Trump administration who are multiply registered in different States: Steve Bannon, Tiffany Trump, Sean 

Spicer, Jared Kushner, Steve Mnuchin. And that is not out of any 

act of malevolence on their part. It is simply because we are dealing with creaky and obsolescent systems that need to be reformed. 

And that was the whole genesis behind the Election Assistance 

Commission in the first place. They obviously have not finished 

their work in a number of areas. But certainly not in this most critical area. And I do hope that all of us would be able to support Ms. 

Lofgren’s amendment. 

I yield back. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Raskin. 

The question is now on the amendment offered by Ms. Lofgren 

to H.R. 634. 

All of those in favor of this amendment, signify by saying aye. 

All those opposed, signify by saying nay. 

In the opinion of the chair—— 

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Chairman, may I have a recorded vote? 

The CHAIRMAN [continuing]. And the motion is not agreed to. 

Ms. LOFGREN. Could I have a recorded vote, please? 

The CHAIRMAN. There has been a recorded vote requested. So the 

clerk will call the roll. 

The CLERK. Mr. Davis. 

Mr. DAVIS. No. 

The CLERK. Mr. Davis votes no. 

Mrs. Comstock. 

Mrs. COMSTOCK. No. 

The CLERK. Mrs. Comstock votes no. 

Mr. Walker. 

Mr. WALKER. Nay. 

The CLERK. Mr. Walker votes nay. 

Mr. Smith. 

Mr. SMITH. No. 

The CLERK. Mr. Smith votes no. 

Mr. Loudermilk. 

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Nay. 

The CLERK. Mr. Loudermilk votes nay. 

Mr. Brady. 

Mr. BRADY. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Brady votes aye. 

Ms. Lofgren. 

Ms. LOFGREN. Yes. 

The CLERK. Ms. Lofgren votes yes. 

Mr. Raskin. 

Mr. RASKIN. Aye. 

27 

The CLERK. Mr. Raskin votes aye. 

Chairman Harper. 

The CHAIRMAN. Nay. 

The CLERK. Chairman Harper votes nay. 

The ayes, three; nays, six. 

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The CHAIRMAN. The nays have it, and the amendment is not 

agreed to. 

Are there any other amendments? 

Seeing none, I move the Committee favorably report H.R. 634. 

The question is on the motion. 

All those in favor, signify by saying aye. 

All those opposed, signify by saying nay. 

In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and the motion is 

agreed to. 

A recorded vote has been requested. So the clerk will call the 

roll. 

The CLERK. Mr. Davis. 

Mr. DAVIS. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Davis votes aye. 

Mrs. Comstock. 

Mrs. COMSTOCK. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mrs. Comstock votes aye. 

Mr. Walker. 

Mr. WALKER. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Walker votes aye. 

Mr. Smith. 

Mr. SMITH. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Smith votes aye. 

Mr. Loudermilk. 

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Loudermilk votes aye. 

Mr. Brady. 

Mr. BRADY. No. 

The CLERK. Mr. Brady votes no. 

Ms. Lofgren. 

Ms. LOFGREN. No. 

The CLERK. Ms. Lofgren votes no. 

Mr. Raskin. 

Mr. RASKIN. No. 

The CLERK. Mr. Raskin votes no. 

Chairman Harper. 

The CHAIRMAN. Aye. 

The CLERK. Chairman Harper votes aye. 

The ayes, six; noes, three. 

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The CHAIRMAN. The ayes have it, and the motion is agreed to. 

Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. 

Does any Member wish to submit supplemental or minority 

views? 

Mr. BRADY. Mr. Chairman, I announce that the minority will request 2 additional days provided by the House rules to submit minority views. 

Mr. Chairman, I also ask unanimous consent for the letters of 

support for the EAC be entered into the record. 

[The information follows:] 

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The CHAIRMAN. Pursuant to clause 2 of rule 11, that is without 

objection. Pursuant to clause 2 of rule 11, the member is entitled 

to 2 additional calendar days to file such views in writing and 

signed by the member and filed with the clerk of the Committee. 

And I will also ask unanimous consent to insert into the record 

a 2015 resolution from the National Association of Secretaries of 

State reaffirming resolutions from 2005 and 2010 encouraging Congress not to reauthorize or fund the EAC. 

Without objection, that is entered into the record. 

[The information follows:] 

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The CHAIRMAN. I now call up and lay before the Committee H.R. 

133. 

Without objection, the first reading is dispensed with, and the 

bill is considered read and open for amendment. 

[The bill follows:] 

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The CHAIRMAN. Would any Member like to make a statement? 

Mr. DAVIS. Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. I will first recognize the Ranking Member, Mr. 

Brady, 5 minutes. 

Mr. BRADY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

Mr. Chairman, public finance has played a role in our Presidential election since 1976 when the PECF was first created in the 

wake of the Watergate scandal. The PECF allows taxpayers to voluntarily set aside $3 to contribute to the public financing of our 

elections. That is what the taxpayers wanted to do with $3. That 

was their clear intent. 

Over the past 40 years, Presidential candidates on both sides of 

the aisle have taken advantage of this funding. I know the recent 

candidates have not used this system, but that means the system 

needs to be improved, not repealed. 

My colleague Representative David Price of North Carolina has 

worked on this for years, and he has some very good ideas that the 

Committee should consider. Campaign finance reform is undoubtedly one of the most important and pressing issues we face. Outside groups spent nearly $1.5 billion to influence the 2016 election. 

And the rise of anonymous unlimited corporate spending has made 

it increasingly difficult for individual citizens to have a voice in our 

elections. This is not the time to terminate the only public financing system at the Federal level, but it is the absolutely right time 

to make it better. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Any other Members wish to be heard? 

I now recognize Mr. Davis for 5 minutes. 

Mr. DAVIS. Thank you, Chairman Harper. 

I want to thank you for bringing this important piece of legislation to our attention. As history has shown us, since 2008, participation by the candidates running for President has gone down. And 

as a matter of fact, every 2016 candidate for President—every 

major candidate shied away from using public funds, so much so 

we have a balance of $317 million sitting in the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. 

And, Chairman Harper, your bill would take $63 million of that 

and put it toward fighting pediatric cancer. During my tenure as 

a Member of Congress, I am thrilled this Committee has found a 

way to better appropriate the resources of the dying Presidential 

Election Campaign Fund. The rest of the money would go to paying 

down the national debt. I got to tell you, Chairman Harper, you 

and I have worked together on these issues. And I was personally 

touched by the story of one of my constituents, Jonny Wade, a courageous 8-year-old from my district, who passed away tragically 

this past year from a rare form of brain cancer on Christmas Eve 

of 2015. I rallied other Members during the State of the Union to 

wear our Team Jonny bracelets to show support for funding more 

pediatric cancer research. And I have worked with my colleagues 

to push more funds through the appropriations process. In 80 percent of children, when cancer is detected, it has already spread to 

other parts of the body. And unlike many adult cancers that can 

be diagnosed early, pediatric cancers are more difficult to detect. 

78 

New therapies going under clinical trials at the NIH, such as 

CAR T-cell therapy, where a patient’s T-cells are removed and engineered to fight cancer cells, are showing promise. But we need to 

do more to make sure that these therapies can improve and have 

a widespread impact to save children like Jonny Wade. And research funding for NIH, including that for the Gabriella Miller 

Kids First Act, can do just that. I fully support this legislation and 

urge my colleagues on this Committee to vote yes on H.R. 13e. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Davis. 

Are there any other Members wishing to be heard on H.R. 133, 

the bill eliminating the Presidential Election Campaign Fund? 

Mrs. COMSTOCK. Yes, Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mrs. Comstock, you are recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mrs. COMSTOCK. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I too appreciate your 

work that you have done on the Gabriella Miller Act. Mark and 

Ellyn Miller, Gabriella’s parents, do live in my district. And so I 

appreciate that now that we have a situation where participation 

in this fund is—because exactly no major candidate of 2016—and 

that precedent was started in 2008—this is money that is sitting 

there that could be much better used for this purpose. And I appreciate the start that we made on this. And I think—in the past. And 

I think this additional money is very much needed and will be very 

much appreciated on this front. In terms of the outside spending 

increasing, I think that has really come as a result of campaign finance reform. So however we are going to deal with campaign finance reform—and I think we all have a lot of ideas on how to do 

that—this fund has died of its own, you know, lack of use. And it 

would be much better utilized for pediatric cancer. And, in fact, I 

might like to see more of that $317 million going toward that, but 

I could address that at another time. But I appreciate the work 

done here and support the measure. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mrs. Comstock. 

Any other Members wishing to be heard on this? 

Would any Member like to offer an amendment? 

Seeing none, without objection, the amendment will be considered as read. 

Are there any other Members who wish to be recognized? 

Okay. So no amendment. So if not, I move that the Committee 

favorably report H.R. 133. The question is on the motion. 

All those in favor, signify by saying aye. 

All those opposed, signify by saying nay. 

In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and the motion is 

agreed to. And—yes. 

Mr. BRADY. Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Brady. 

Mr. BRADY. I ask that the minority will request 2 additional days 

provided by the House rules to submit minority views. 

Mr. Chairman, I also ask unanimous consent—— 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Brady, if I may interrupt. There is a request 

for a recorded vote. I apologize. My apologies. 

Okay. So a recorded vote has been requested. So the clerk will 

call the roll. 

The CLERK. Mr. Davis. 

Mr. DAVIS. Yes. 

79 

The CLERK. Mr. Davis votes yes. 

Mrs. Comstock. 

Mrs. COMSTOCK. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mrs. Comstock votes aye. 

Mr. Smith. 

Mr. SMITH. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Smith votes aye. 

Mr. Loudermilk. 

Mr. LOUDERMILK. Aye. 

The CLERK. Mr. Loudermilk votes aye. 

Mr. Brady. 

Mr. BRADY. No. 

The CLERK. Mr. Brady votes no. 

Ms. Lofgren. 

Ms. LOFGREN. No. 

The CLERK. Ms. Lofgren votes no. 

Mr. Raskin. 

Mr. RASKIN. No. 

The CLERK. Mr. Raskin votes no. 

Chairman Harper. 

The CHAIRMAN. Aye. 

The CLERK. Chairman Harper votes aye. 

The ayes, five; noes, three. 

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The CHAIRMAN. The ayes have it. The motion is agreed to. 

Mr. Brady. 

Mr. BRADY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I announce that the minority will request 2 additional days provided by the House rules to submit minority views. 

Mr. Chairman, I also ask for unanimous consent for the letters 

of support for PECF to be entered into the record. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection. 

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The CHAIRMAN. I now call up and lay before the Committee Committee Resolution 115–4, the Committee’s Views and Estimates for 

Fiscal Year 2018. 

Without objection, the first reading is dispensed with and the 

resolution is considered read and open for amendment. 

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Would any Member like to make a statement? 

The CHAIRMAN. Would any Member like to offer an amendment? 

Without objection, if not, no amendments, I move the Committee 

favorably report Committee Resolution 115–4. 

The question is on the motion. 

All those in favor, signify by saying aye. 

All those opposed, signify by saying nay. 

In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and the motion is 

agreed to. 

Mr. BRADY. Mr. Chairman. 

The CHAIRMAN. Yes, sir, Mr. Brady. 

Mr. BRADY. I announce that the minority will request 2 additional days provided by the House rules to submit minority views. 

The CHAIRMAN. Without objection. 

Without objection, the motion is considered laid upon the table. 

For all the matters considered here today, I would ask unanimous consent that the staff be authorized to make technical and 

conforming changes if necessary. 

Without objection, so ordered. 

That concludes today’s markup. 

Without objection, the markup is adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 12:29 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.] 

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