Congressman Mo Brooks Kicks Off House Floor Speech Series on Election Integrity's Importance to a Properly Functioning Republic
Washington, DC— Tuesday, Congressman Mo Brooks (AL-05) delivered a House floor speech on Congress’s decisive role in determining the outcome of presidential elections. This is the first speech in a series Congressman Brooks will deliver on election integrity’s importance to a properly functioning republic.
Click on the image above or HERE for video of Congressman Brooks’ speech
Full text of Congressman Brooks’ speech:
This is the first in a series of House Floor Speeches by me on the recent presidential election.
Some believe the Supreme Court decides who wins presidential elections. That is wrong. While the Supreme Court has a significant judicial role in the presidential election process, the U.S. Constitution and federal law make Congress, NOT the Supreme Court, the judge of who wins presidential elections.
Congress must first accept or reject states’ submissions of electoral college votes.
Thereafter, if no candidate wins an electoral college vote majority, Congress, NOT the Supreme Court, votes on and elects the next President and Vice-President of the United States.
The Constitution’s 12th Amendment requires states to submit their electoral college votes to Congress, thereby triggering U.S. Code Title 3, Section 15, which requires that:
First, Congress shall meet January 6 following the election, at 1:00 PM, to receive states’ electoral college vote submissions.
Second, the Senate President presides over all proceedings.
Third, each state’s electoral college submissions shall be opened, presented, and acted upon in alphabetical order, beginning with the letter A.
Fourth, the Senate President shall receive and publicly announce each state’s electoral college vote.
Fifth, the Senate President shall call for objections, if any. Objections must be in writing and clearly and concisely state, without argument, the objection grounds. Further, each objection must be signed by at least one Senator and one Congressman or be disallowed.
Sixth, the Senate and House shall then separate, and each body shall then decide whether to accept or reject electoral college votes that have been properly objected to.
Finally, if the House and Senate both vote to reject a state’s electoral college vote submission, those electoral college votes shall not be counted in the election of the president and vice-president.
United States Code Title 3, Section 17 adds that the Senate and House votes to accept or reject electoral college votes must occur immediately after no more than two hours of floor debate.
This process has been used in the past to challenge states’ electoral college votes.
For example, in 2005, Democrat Congressman Stephanie Tubbs and Democrat Senator Barbara Boxer jointly objected to acceptance of Ohio’s electoral college votes for Republican President George Bush after Ohio election officials certified that George Bush won Ohio by almost 120,000 votes.
Similarly, in 2017, numerous Democrat Congressmen objected to all electoral college votes for Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump from the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. These objections all failed for lack of a Senate cosponsor.
In sum, the U.S. Constitution and federal law mandate that, on January 6, 2021, Congress must decide whether to accept or reject states’ submissions of electoral college votes for president.
If a Congressman and Senator jointly object, then the full House and full Senate must each vote on whether to accept or reject a state’s electoral college vote submission. That vote by Congress is final, determinative, and non-reviewable.
If a state’s electoral college votes are rejected, then those electoral college votes are excluded from candidate totals.
My second speech in this series covers what happens if, because of rejected electoral college votes, neither candidate has the majority of electoral college votes needed to be elected president.
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