{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://deluzio.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-chris-deluzio-and-house-democratic-veterans-slam-election-denying", "Congressman Chris Deluzio and House Democratic Veterans Slam Election-Denying Republicans for Attempts to Disenfranchise Active Duty Servicemembers, Ask Secretary of Defense Austin to Guarantee Troops\u2019 Voting Rights Are Protected", "2024-10-14", "2024", "2024-10", "Democrat", "House", "PA", "Christopher R. Deluzio", "D000530", "deluzio.house.gov", "deluzio", "https://deluzio.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Last week, 6 Republican Members of Congress from Pennsylvania, who all refused to certify the 2020 election, filed a lawsuit to strip voting rights away from U.S. citizens living abroad, including military personnel\n\nCARNEGIE, PA\u2013 Today, Navy veteran Congressman Chris Deluzio, alongside five fellow House Democratic veterans, slammed election-denying Republicans for their attempts to disenfranchise active duty servicemembers, and asked Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to guarantee that the voting rights of military personnel stationed overseas are protected. Last week, 6 House Republicans, all of whom refused to certify the 2020 election, filed a lawsuit challenging the Uniform and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), which requires states to allow eligible Americans living abroad, including military personnel, to vote in federal elections. Secretary of Defense Austin is the principal executive official with administrative responsibility for carrying out UOCAVA. The letter, co-led by Army veteran Congressman Pat Ryan and Air Force veteran Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan, was also signed by Marine Corps veterans Congressman Seth Moulton and Congressman Salud Carbajal, as well as Army veteran Congressman Mike Thompson.\n\n\"The un-American efforts by my Republican colleagues attacking our service members\u2019 right to vote is despicable. With this letter today, we are drawing a line in the sand,\u201d said Congressman Chris Deluzio. \u201cI will always fight like hell to ensure that every eligible American, in uniform abroad or here at home, can freely exercise their right to vote.\u201d\n\n\u201cSix election-denying extremists are trying to disenfranchise our men and women in uniform. It\u2019s disgraceful and anti-democratic,\u201d said Congressman Pat Ryan. \u201cThese are quite literally troops who raised their right hands and swore an oath to protect and defend our Constitution \u2013 and now extremists are stripping them of their constitutional rights. This isn\u2019t about Democrats and Republicans. It\u2019s about doing right by those putting their lives on the line for our country, and they deserve to know immediately their right to vote will be protected.\u201d\n\n\u201cPennsylvania is the bedrock on which the foundation of our constitution and rights as Americans was formed. I am deeply ashamed of my colleagues who are trying to prevent members of our military, who are stationed overseas from voting in this upcoming election,\u201d said Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan. \u201cWe cannot allow six Republican Pennsylvanian members, the same ones who refused to certify the 2020, to toss aside those rights and disenfranchise the very people who are serving us and are in harm's way across the globe. I stand alongside other veterans in Congress in sending this letter to Secretary Austin to ensure our servicemembers\u2019 fundamental rights are preserved and protected in this upcoming election.\u201d\n\nThe Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) was enacted by Congress in 1986. UOCAVA requires that the states and territories allow members of the United States Uniformed Services to register and vote absentee in elections for Federal offices. The legislation was last updated in 2010 to make voting easier for service members. In March 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14019, which put further steps in place to ensure service member\u2019s right to vote.\n\nA copy of House Democratic veterans\u2019 letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is included below:\n\nDear Secretary Austin,\n\nWe write to express deep concern about the actions of our congressional colleagues and request your support in ensuring overseas military personnel and Americans abroad retain their right to participate fully in U.S. elections. My colleagues are attempting to usurp the right to vote from our men and women in uniform, as well as their families. These Americans who raised their right hand and swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution may be stripped of one of the most fundamental rights it guarantees.\n\nEarlier this month, six Congressmen, who all refused to certify the 2020 election, filed a lawsuit threatening the right to vote for Americans overseas. Our colleagues seek to litigate longstanding federal law at the expense of our service members. Undercutting confidence in our free and fair elections by disenfranchising our service men and women is unacceptable. Unfortunately, we must remind them that it is the Sense of Congress: that \u201ceach uniformed services voter receives the utmost consideration and cooperation when voting, each valid ballot cast by such a voter is duly counted, and all eligible American voters, regardless of race, ethnicity, disability, the language they speak, or the resources of the community in which they live, should have an equal opportunity to cast a vote and to have that vote counted.\u201d\n\nAs the principal executive official with administrative responsibility for carrying out The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), we seek further clarification on how you will carry out this Act and if this lawsuit will affect the constitutional rights of service members. UOCAVA was enacted by Congress in 1986 and was last updated in 2010 to make voting easier for service members. Executive Order 14019 puts further steps in place to ensure service member\u2019s right to vote.\n\nWhile some of our colleagues are actively seeking to sow discord and misinformation, we urge you to carry out President Biden\u2019s executive order and Federal Law to the best of your ability and ensure that all Americans have their constitutionally guaranteed right to participate in federal elections.\n\nThank you for considering this request. We look forward to hearing what the Department is doing to ensure that servicemembers and Americans abroad can have confidence that their ballots will be counted.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:57:20Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://deluzio.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-chris-deluzio-and-house-democratic-veterans-slam-election-denying"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.929808709770441, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}