Press Releases

Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) participated in a virtual press conference, hosted by Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA), in response to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' visit to Atlanta, Georgia, where they advocated for the passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Rep. Loudermilk's remarks during the press conference are below:

“Quite frankly, if the Washington Post was to analyze this speech Joe Biden gave today, and they did it honestly, it would blow off the Pinocchio scale.

“This speech was so full of lies and mistruths about not only the election, the lack of suppression that is in this nation. You look at this last election, it was a record turnout across the nation. There are no valid instances of widespread voter suppression in the state of Georgia or across the nation. It doesn't exist.

“But he would make you believe, and he tried to make everyone believe in this press conference today, that this was in response to the 2020 election. Well, quite frankly, this bill that they're trying to push was introduced in the last Congress … well before this [2020] election.

“They have been trying to do a federal takeover of the election for two Congresses now; and, in fact, during this Congress, they tried to ramrod it through the House, which they did without even a hearing in the committee … myself and Representative Davis sit on that committee. No hearing whatsoever … no markup on the bill at all … just rammed right through.

“This is how desperate they are to get a federal takeover of elections. If you look at everything that did go wrong in this last election … that is what they're trying to codify as federal law. And, as Representative Carter just said, it is unconstitutional to do what they are trying to do. Those laws are left to the states. When you look at what Georgia [legislature] has done, we have made it easier to vote and harder to cheat – much more than even Biden's [state] Delaware, which has just now, in the past few months, for the first time, allowed for in-person early voting. Buddy and I were in the state legislature when we passed this many years ago in Georgia, allowing for early voting in the state.

“And so, when you look at what he's [biden] doing, he's trying to pull the wool over the American people's eyes; but I don't think they're buying it. Gas prices are high, people are standing in lines. People are looking for COVID test kits across the nation. COVID is rampant again, even though he was going to eliminate it. Inflation is still rising. And now, the Fed Chair, Jerome Powell, was talking about raising interest rates to avoid a recession, brought on by these bad policies.

“You look at what's happening at the border ... and all the president can talk about is a takeover of the election system, in response to the last election - he wants to make you think that this is in response to the last election.

“Everything they're doing, they keep trying to tie January 6th to the claims that there were problems in the last election. But then they tell us this last election was perfect. There was no fraud. There was no voter suppression; but yet, they need to reform it and they have to do it right now.

“I don't think the American people are going to buy it. It's unconstitutional. It's unwarranted. And I'm calling on the president ... stop the nonsense, and let's get to work for the American people - to fix the economy before we run headlong into a recession. Let's support our troops. Let's secure the border, and let's do the things that the American people think are important, not try to take over the election system for the federal government.

“And look at it this way: the filibuster in the Senate has always been there to try to keep things bipartisan. The only way you can pass anything in the Senate is on a bipartisan scale. There is nothing bipartisan about this election bill. It is totally partisan in the House. It is totally partisan in the Senate. And if there is anything that Congress should pass on a bipartisan basis, it should be laws pertaining to elections. Under the Constitution, the only thing Congress can touch regarding elections is who can vote, not how they vote.”

Reporter: Is there anything regarding election laws that you could support [reforming]?

Rep. Loudermilk: “What you just brought up [clarifying how electoral college votes are counted] is something that I think we need to look at, because the act that set out the counting of electors needs to be cleaned up ... there’re contradictory statements in there. There's confusion in there. ... But when President Trump was elected, I sat on the [house] floor as many Democrats contested the counting of several states as well; and they're using that same law that is contradictory in all of this. ... So that is something that needs to be worked on, and we need bipartisan input to actually clean up that act, the law, so it is clear what Congress's role is when it comes to accepting the Electoral College ballots. ... What is the role of Congress and when can a member of Congress actually contest the counting of votes?”

Background on the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act:

It would amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to create a new mechanism for requiring covered states, and subdivisions thereof, to obtain preclearance from the federal government of any change to election law or practice. Generally, states and subdivisions with a moderate number of voting rights violations within 25 years would be subject to preclearance. The bill also creates a nation-wide preclearance requirement for certain types of state laws, such as photo I.D. laws.