Congressional Record/Volume 167/Issue 4/House/Counting Electoral Votes/Arizona Objection Debate/Grijalva Speech (1)

Congressional Record, Volume 167, Number 4
Congress
Speech in opposition to the Objection against the counting of Arizona’s electoral votes by Raúl Manuel Grijalva
3440944Congressional Record, Volume 167, Number 4 — Speech in opposition to the Objection against the counting of Arizona’s electoral votesRaúl Manuel Grijalva

Mr. Grivalja. Madam Speaker, this exercise in futility that Congress is undertaking is at the behest of Republican Members of Congress. The effort to overturn the Presidential election and grant Donald Trump 4 more years is the motivation behind it. And to continue a baseless conspiracy-fueled threat to our democracy makes no sense because there is no viable constitutional or legal path to overturn the election that will make Vice President Biden and Senator Harris President and Vice President of the United States after January 20.

One certain outcome of this whole process is the weakening of our democracy and the threatening of our democracy. Beginning with Arizona, Congress is being asked to chase down a rabbit hole—baseless, discredited, and judicially discarded fringe conspiracy theories.

Madam Speaker, for the record, let’s talk a little bit about Arizona. Arizona and State and local officials did an unbelievable job to ensure that the 2020 elections ran smoothly. Mr. Hickman, the Republican chairman of the Maricopa County board, the largest county in the State of Arizona, said: “No matter how you voted, this election was administered with integrity, transparency, and in accordance with State laws.”

Arizonans showed up to the polls in record numbers. More than 3.4 million people voted, with increases in every county, and 65 percent of all eligible voters in Arizona voted in the 2020 election. Arizonans cast their ballots up and down for Republicans and Democrats, and 11 electoral votes were granted to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris based on their victory in Arizona. That is the story.

Arizonans voted in hundreds of races this year. In addition to the Presidency, these races include nine members of the State’s congressional delegation that are with you—four of them, my Republican colleagues. These Members have already been seated in the 117th Congress. They do not question the accuracy of Arizona’s 2020 elections to select the congressional delegation, yet my four Republican colleagues question the Presidential election.

Our colleagues may say they are only asking questions and seeking to reassure voters, but let us be clear: These questions have been answered by the voters and by the courts. Rather than accepting the answers and the results of the election, they are fanning the flames of unfounded suspicion and once again creating a threat, a very real and dangerous threat to our democracy.

Again, our friends do not question the outcomes of their own elections. That is because they have no reason to, just as they have no legitimate reason to question the results of the Presidential election in Arizona.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to reject this objection, to respect the will of the voters in the State of Arizona and throughout this country, and to fundamentally add some preservation to our democracy from any future damage, that this effort that we are undertaking in this House and in the Senate today does not further damage our democracy.