During a House Administration Committee hearing, Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA) tore into the House Administration Committee's hearing about California's vote counting processes, and previous hearings targeting her home state. Committee Chairman Rep. Brian Steil (R-WI) issued a reminder about rules of decorum and closed the hearing.
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00:00Thank you, and let me just start by saying that as the only Californian on this committee, I am outraged.
00:07I am simply outraged at the continued attacks from this committee against my home state chairman.
00:14How dare this committee attack the duly elected members of the state legislature
00:22who were elected by Californians to represent them.
00:29The fact is, California is doing just fine without your input.
00:35Let's look at the facts.
00:37California is the fourth largest economy in the world.
00:44We send $692 billion to the federal government, and we get $83 billion less in return.
00:55Meanwhile, Florida gets $41 billion more.
00:59Ohio gets $49 billion more.
01:02Texas gets $71 billion more.
01:05So do us a favor, and when your state rises to the level of California, then let's talk about fixing California.
01:18So let's now talk about elections.
01:22Last year, the chairman and other Republicans, without giving Democrats on this committee a heads up,
01:30went to Los Angeles, wasting taxpayers' dollars and time to look for problems.
01:37And guess what?
01:38They found zero, zero problems.
01:42They visited the largest ballot processing center in the nation, responsible for nearly 6 million registered voters.
01:51That's bigger than 28 states in the nation.
01:55Not a single committee, not a single Republican or political observer contested the outcome of any house race
02:04or provided any evidence that California suffered from fraud or any other issues.
02:11Why is that?
02:13Hmm.
02:13Because California, members, our election infrastructure is sound.
02:19We invest in a secured system, rigorous training, and transparency at every level.
02:28California has worked hard to ensure that every eligible American voter can cast their vote.
02:34And as frustrating as it may be to you and to other people, including myself at times,
02:42our fantastic state and local election workers make sure that our elections happen and that they are safe.
02:53As the mother of a veteran and a police officer, I know voters might serve far from their home
02:59or they might be a first responder that has to work on election day.
03:05Voters can't always take a day off.
03:07They might have mobility issues.
03:09This is why California established voting by mail, to make it so that every eligible Californian
03:16can have their voice heard.
03:19California's promise to our voters, whether we like how they vote or not, your voice as a voter is heard.
03:29Normally, I would welcome a discussion on improving election operations, but these are not normal times.
03:36You see, President Trump and his cronies, like Elon Musk, do not care about the rule of law or the Constitution.
03:47They're destroying the economy, attacking and arresting judges, and recently deported three American citizens' children,
03:56including a two-year-old toddler and a four-year-old with stage four cancer, a rare cancer.
04:04If President Trump and his administration don't care about due process for a child with cancer,
04:10how can you honestly sit here and debate and believe that they believe in the Constitution or a free and fair election?
04:20Hogwash.
04:21They ignore judges when decisions don't go their way.
04:25They deny election results when they don't win.
04:29Let's be honest, Chairman.
04:31Their actions on elections has one goal, to sow distrust in our election system, to suppress the vote,
04:39and to make it harder for Americans to participate in our democracy.
04:44Not your democracy, our democracy.
04:46Do you know what makes people question our elections?
04:50It's not California elections.
04:52It is the President Trump, Elon Musk, and the Republican Party pushing lies and refusing to follow the law.
05:00Meanwhile, Trump's voting order and the Republican SAFE Act will create huge burdens of every American.
05:09You've allowed other members to go beyond their time, but you don't like what I'm saying, so you're trying to shut me down.
05:15The SAFE Act is nothing but a bill to try to cancel the vote of people that don't want to vote for you, and I yield back.
05:29The gentleman yields back.
05:30All members are reminded to refrain from the use of personalities directed at members of Congress, the President, or the Vice President.
05:36All members, having used their time for questions, I'd like to thank our witnesses for appearing before us today.
05:43Members of the committee may have some additional questions for you, and we ask you to please respond to those questions in writing.
05:49Without objection, each member will have five legislative days to insert additional material into the record or to revise and extend their remarks.
05:56If there's no further business, I want to thank the members for their participation.
05:59Without objection, the committee stands adjourned.