Messages from Congresswoman Hayes

Dear Friend,

This past week, I joined my colleagues in voting to pass H.R. 1, the For the People Act of 2019, out of the House of Representatives. I am proud to be a cosponsor of this legislation.

As a history teacher, I have spent my career teaching young people that they have the power to change their communities through active involvement and civic engagement. Now as a legislator, it is one of my highest priorities to ensure that everyone has access to the most basic tool of civic engagement- the vote. H.R. 1 makes critical reforms that will restore power to the American people by ending the dominance of big money in politics, making it easier- not harder- to vote, and ensuring that public officials actually serve the people.

Specifically, the For the People Act expands voting rights through the establishment of a national automatic voter registration system, expansion of voting by mail and early voting, and ending partisan gerrymandering. Additionally, this bill fixes our broken campaign finance system by requiring the disclosure of large donors, tightening rules on super PACs, and ensuring campaign finance laws that are already in place are enforced.

No less importantly, this critical legislation enhances government ethics and accountability by mandating that presidential candidates disclose their tax returns, closing registration loopholes for lobbyists and foreign agents, creating a code of ethics for the Supreme Court, and protecting our elections from interference by foreign adversaries.

Clean and fair elections are the fundamental bedrock of our democracy. I am proud that H.R. 1 has passed out of the House of Representatives, and I encourage my colleagues in the Senate to support this critical legislation.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. To keep up with my work in Congress, please sign up for my e-newsletter here.

Sincerely,


Jahana Hayes

Member of Congress