'Violence To The Constitution': Chip Roy Unleashes On Push To Allow Proxy Voting For New Moms

4/1/2025

During debate on the House floor, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) tore into a discharge petition that would force a vote on allowing proxy voting for new parents in Congress.

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Transcript

00:00Mr. Speaker, I recognize my friend from Texas, Mr. Roy, for four minutes.

00:04Gentleman from Texas is recognized for four minutes.

00:07I thank my friend from Virginia. I would note for the American people that this week,

00:13the Republican majority is bringing before the body two important measures.

00:19One, to ensure the integrity of our elections, to ensure that only American citizens can vote

00:24in American elections, a fairly common sense principle, which enjoys 80% plus approval among

00:31the American people, that would straightforward ensure that non-citizens may not vote in our

00:38elections. It's that simple. The second measure we're bringing forward is a piece of legislation

00:43that we're actively debating right now in a committee that I'm co-chairing the Judiciary

00:47Committee, and I'll go back to that committee forthwith, in which we are having witnesses

00:52before the Judiciary Committee discussing the extent to which we have judges that are

00:58taking action unilaterally, what are called temporary restraining orders or injunctions,

01:02to thwart the efforts of the administration's actions in direct result of the election in

01:10November, to carry out the agenda for which the president was elected. Now, this is a bipartisan

01:14problem that has been something where you have judges that will act unilaterally as a single

01:20district judge, and the question is, what do we do about it? We've had Democrats that have

01:23said we should change it, we've had Republicans that said we should change it, but we're trying

01:26to change it. We're trying to say that a judge can take action on the parties before them,

01:31but nothing more, and then have that go up through another procedure, and then allow an appellate

01:37panel or a three-judge panel or the Supreme Court, fast tracks, they decide there should

01:40be an injunction, there can be. So let me put this in plain speak for the American people.

01:45We're putting measures on the floor to ensure that only American citizens vote in American

01:49elections, and to ensure that judges don't make the policy for America, that the elected leaders

01:55do, whether it's the executive branch president or the members of Congress, and that there would

01:59be a process to ensure that the Constitution, the laws of the land are being protected.

02:04That's what this majority body is putting forward, and we can listen all day long about what we're

02:08hearing today regarding proxy voting. The American people that I know and represent and talk to

02:14expect us to show up. Right now across this country, Americans are showing up to work.

02:20They're going in and they're doing their plumbing work. They're electricians showing up to work.

02:24They're builders. They're standing out in the sun. They're picking crops. They're working hard.

02:29They don't get to take a pass. They don't get to not show up, but we were elected to represent

02:35750-odd thousand Americans each. We were elected under the Constitution of the United States,

02:40and we are supposed to show up in Congress. It's what it means. We're supposed to be here.

02:47It's why the institution exists. It's why this floor exists, and there have been countless reasons

02:54why there would be cause for us to want to allow members to have some sort of flexibility.

03:00People who are sick. Our friend, Steve Scalise, who was shot. He was shot, and he didn't ask for

03:07some special dispensation. He fought cancer, is still fighting cancer, and as the majority

03:15leader is standing here on this floor every day doing the job. New dads. I'm a dad.

03:22My daughter, my son, they asked me to show up to things. I missed my son's 4-H presentation last

03:29week. I missed my daughter's 4-H this last week. I've missed countless family engagements.

03:35My wife carries the burden of making sure our family can function back home in Texas,

03:40but you know what? I signed up for the job. That's what I did. I signed up for the job,

03:47and when you let this happen, it will not just happen for mothers or fathers. It will be for

03:54everybody, and then we'll have proxy voting, where you will have pressures brought to bear

03:59that will fundamentally change this institution. No, we should not allow this to occur. No,

04:04we shouldn't have discharge petition brought to the floor, which does violence to the Constitution,

04:09does violence to the body, and does it with no ability to amend it, because the way the

04:13rule was drafted, there would be no amendments, no ability to debate it.

04:18We should stand. I appreciate my friend from Virginia. What we are doing on the floor today

04:26is right and proper under our rules. It is to say that we should have a full-throated debate

04:31on something that would fundamentally change the people's house. Nothing more, nothing less,

04:36and we should do that. This is something that's been debatable. It was debated by the founders.

04:40It was debated by them and rejected. It was debated and rejected in the Articles of Confederation.

04:45It was debated and rejected in the Constitution, and now we are staring at the result of having

04:51set aside tradition and precedent by embracing proxy voting during COVID. Now it's being trying

04:56to be expanded beyond that. We should not do that, and with that, I will yield back.

'Violence To The Constitution': Chip Roy Unleashes On Push To Allow Proxy Voting For New Moms

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