Sen. Tim Scott: President Trump built the most inclusive economy ever
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, Republican member of the Senate Finance Committee, speaks at the 2020 Republican National Convention.
Republican Sen. Tim Scott is expected to introduce a bill on Wednesday that would establish a bipartisan commission to examine the integrity of the 2020 presidential election.
The bill is set to be introduced Wednesday — the same day that Congress will meet in a joint session to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.
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Scott, R-S.C., has said he will vote to certify the Electoral College during the session.
Scott’s proposed committee, the 2020 Bipartisan Advisory Committee, would be bipartisan and bicameral, meaning it would be comprised of Republicans and Democrats from the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Scott said Tuesday that the committee would include 18 members — 9 appointed by the Republican Senate leader in consultation with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and nine appointed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in consultation with the Democratic Senate leader.
“The beauty of the American experiment is the ability to freely question our processes and build upon lessons learned,” Scott said in a statement. We cannot move forward without looking back and scrutinizing the issues that led to millions of Americans losing trust in our election system. While every election has a modicum of fraud, the circumstances around the pandemic led multiple states to make rushed and perhaps ill-planned changes to their election systems weeks ahead of the presidential election.”
There needs to be an understanding of what mistakes might have been made to accommodate voting during the pandemic, he said.
“Simply put, Congress needs to act in a bipartisan fashion to examine the missteps — intentional or not — made this year in state legislatures across the country.”
Scott said his bill would establish a commission that would “study the merits and administration of the November 2020 election and make recommendations to State legislatures to improve the security, integrity, and administration of federal elections.”
“It is absolutely critical that every American has faith in our electoral system and that their vote is counted,” Scott said. “As President Reagan said, ‘Freedom is never more than a generation away from extinction,’ and now more than ever before is it our duty to regain the trust of the American voter.”
WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN CONGRESS MEETS TO CERTIFY THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION RESULTS
Scott said the committee would study the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the 2020 election and the election practices adopted in response to the pandemic related to mail-in ballots, absentee ballots and vote-by-mail procedures.
Scott also said the committee would examine practices that could have allowed for improper or fraudulent voter registration or votes — all in an effort to “bolster public confidence in the integrity of future general elections.”
The bill would ensure that the committee submits two reports: one that would include precinct-by-precinct data highlighting any potentially fraudulent or improper voter registrations or votes cast in the election, and a final report that would include recommendations for local and state governments.
The rollout of Scott’s legislation comes as President Trump has repeatedly charged that the presidential election was “rigged” and has claimed that there was “massive voter fraud” in a handful of battleground states where President-elect Joe Biden narrowly edged the president, to score a 306-232 Electoral College victory over the GOP incumbent.
The president has refused to concede to the former vice president, and he and his allies filed dozens of lawsuits contesting the election that were shot down in state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court. And Attorney General William Barr told the Associated Press last month, before stepping down, that “to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election.”
Scott is set to introduce his legislation as Congress certifies the Electoral College results on Wednesday. However, a number of GOP senators and more than 100 Republican House members have said they will object to the certification in some states.
Scott, on Tuesday, thanked the president for his service and accomplishments but he came out against plans from some of his Senate Republican colleagues to challenge electoral votes on Wednesday.
In a lengthy statement issued Tuesday, Scott pointed to his past support for the president and his legal challenges to November’s election, but he said there is no longer a path for him to reverse the election’s results.
“As I read the Constitution, there is no constitutionally viable means for the Congress to overturn an election wherein the states have certified and sent their Electors,” Scott said. “Some of my colleagues believe they have found a path, and while our opinions differ, I do not doubt their good intentions to take steps towards stamping out voter fraud. Importantly, I disagree with their method both in principle and in practice.”
Even though Scott is opposed to challenging President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, Scott remains adamant in his support of the president’s legal right to pursue any and every lawful avenue to investigate, litigate and adjudicate allegations of error, fraud, or misconduct.
Scott remains “open, interested, and desirous to see any new and credible evidence,” he said. But with his bill, he wants to “protect future elections from the same uncertainty that has plagued the 2020 election.”
Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
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