RESEARCH LINKS
Issue 1: H.R.1/Election Reform
Congress.gov: H.R.1 – “For the People Act of 2021”
Conservative Action Project: “Conservatives Oppose H.R.1, Fantasy of the Left”
Brennan Center for Justice: “Congress Must Pass the ‘For the People Act’”
Roll Call: “10 Things You Might Not Know about HR 1”
Heritage Foundation: “H.R.1 Is a Threat to American Democracy”
Fox News: “H.R.1 Imperils Free and Fair Elections, Here Are the Worst Parts”
Issue 2: D.C. Statehood
Congress.gov: H.R.51 – “Washington, D.C. Admission Act”
Cato Institute: “D.C. Statehood Is a Fool’s Errand”
League of Women Voters: “D.C. Statehood Tool Kit”
Heritage Foundation: “D.C. Statehood Bill Is Constitutionally Dubious, Flawed”
Rep. Norton: “The Fight for D.C. Statehood”
51 for 51 Website: “Issues”
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Issue 1: H.R.1/Election Reform
- Do you support or oppose H.R.1? If you were speaking to a person who disagreed, what is the strongest argument in support of your position?
- Does H.R.1 represent government overreach? Why or why not?
- Are the bill’s ethics provisions necessary? Why or why not?
- Are H.R.1’s improvements in access to elections, through ease of registration, early voting, and more accurate voter rolls, necessary? Why or why not?
- Do the disclosure provisions around political ads and political spending represent a threat to free speech, or a needed opening to identify who is influencing our democracy?
Issue 2: D.C. Statehood
- What are some of the reasons that Republicans oppose making D.C. a state?
- Why do you think the framers of the U.S. Constitution decided that the nation’s capital should not be located in any state?
- What rights are people in D.C. denied that other Americans enjoy?
- Why did it require a constitutional amendment to give people in D.C. the right to vote for President?
- Democrats are for D.C. statehood, but Republicans are against it. What might account for such differing views on this issue?