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Griffith Statement on House Democrat Proxy Voting Proposal
Friday, May 15, 2020
– Congressman Morgan Griffith (R-VA) issued the following statement in
opposition to the proposed rule change by the House Democrat majority to
permit proxy voting on the floor of the House:“The House majority has proposed a change in the rules that defies the Constitution and undermines the House of Representatives as a legislative body.
“The Constitution requires a majority of the House to conduct business, a provision George Mason called ‘valuable & necessary.’ The Framers knew that mischief could take place if the House met with less than a majority of its members.
“Allowing vote by proxy opens that door to serious mischief and legislative malfeasance. Gathering in person is essential to the legislative process. It’s how we talk through issues, gather support for bills, and build relationships for effective lawmaking.
“The House has met and voted several times during the pandemic, as has the Senate. Further, committees have met live in Washington, D.C. This is not a job that can be done just be phoning it in. Citizens should not trust the future of our great Republic to those who demand they be allowed to do their essential jobs while sitting at home in their La-Z-Boy recliner.
“As Members of Congress, we can and must do our jobs without tossing aside the Constitution. The United States House of Representatives should not be a sparsely attended debating society.”
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What George Mason would have said about voting by phone, if he'd imagined it would ever be possible, I can't imagine...but "proxy voting" is a different bucket of worms! It's one thing for stockholders who trust the corporate chairman and CEO to make the most profitable decisions on the technical minutiae they probably understand better than the stockholders do. It's another thing for the U.S. Congress, whose job is to understand the bills on which they vote. That's a sufficiently unreasonable burden at best. We all know a few of the kind of well-intentioned, usually clearheaded people who could be tempted to let cute little AOC or money-smart Trump make the kind of decisions they make--which are neither well-intentioned nor even necessarily clearheaded--on important policy matters.
Remote voting is one thing. Not everyone on Capitol Hill is as young and tough as Rand Paul. By ancient and honorable tradition, Congressmen can keep voting on national legislation as long as they're able to take their seats and move their hands at the right time; if they want to keep working up to and beyond the age of 100, most Americans will applaud. If they get the flu and die of pneumonia, which occasionally happens, the House or the Senate have heretofore been able to carry on while the home districts of the deceased hold special elections. Coronavirus does present the risk of a critical mass of senior legislators not only becoming ill all at once, but leaving Congress in the hands of a brat pack led by the aforementioned AOC, who really need to be voted out before they have any chance to form a majority-of-those-still-standing. This web site would like to see several Congressmen retire (this web site's use of "Congressmen" most definitely includes Nancy Pelosi) but we'd prefer that they have a reasonable amount of time to go to the beach with their grandchildren after they retire.
I'd support a bill to let them vote by phone when they're worried about their health, understanding that every time they use that privilege can be used to feed the loyal opposition's campaigns, back home: "U.S. Rep. Tracy Smith phoned in votes on 27 key bills last year. Isn't it time we had a younger, healthier U.S. Rep.?" And also understanding that I have supported, in every way I knew how, measures to limit bills read in Congress to such a length that legislators who wanted to phone in their votes could reasonably be asked to read bills aloud, so that everyone could hear their voices and know they personally knew what they were doing with their votes by phone.
Proxy voting? People who have pneumonia and shouldn't speak, shouldn't vote...but neither should they trust their interns, or the young hotheads in their party, to vote for them. Congress should shout "No" loudly enough that we can hear it out here on the Point of Virginia. Gentle Readers, if by any chance you have Internet access wherever you're in quarantine today, please tell your Congressmen just to say NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
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