Representatives Peter Deutsch and J.D. Hayworth on the latest on the presidential recount

(CNN) – On Monday, November 20, Florida’s Supreme Court justices heard the case from lawyers representing both Republicans and Democrats, as well as state and county officials, on whether to include manual recounts in Florida's final election results.

Representative Peter Deutsch is a Democrat representing Florida's 20th Congressional District, which includes parts of Broward and Miami-Dade counties. Before being elected to Congress, Representative Deutsch served in the Florida House of Representatives. Deutsch is a member of the New Democrat Coalition and the House Committee on Commerce.

Representative J.D. Hayworth is a Republican representing Arizona's 6th Congressional District. Representative Hayworth founded and has served as chair of the Constitutional Caucus. Representative Hayworth is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Chat Moderator: Welcome to the Crossfire chat room, Representative Peter Deutsch.

Representative Peter Deutsch: How're you doing? Looking forward to hearing from you.

Chat Moderator: Welcome to the Crossfire chat room, Representative J.D. Hayworth.

Representative J.D. Hayworth: Greetings from Arizona!

Chat Moderator: Congress has delayed reconvening until early next month because of this election situation. What must Congress still accomplish before the end of the session?

Representative Peter Deutsch: The only thing we technically have to do is finish the appropriations bill, but there's a lot left to do, if the political will is there. We can deal with the patients' bill of rights, some tax issues, Medicare issues, so-called Medicare givebacks as well, but there's a question of what will happen.

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Representative J.D. Hayworth: I think, quite simply, we're in a situation where we have to complete the appropriations process. There are some concerns about Medicare, but again, I think we're in a situation where whoever our next president is, it's important to basically set the table for the executive branch and the next Congress.

And so, I wouldn't be surprised if we simply go back, complete the work, perhaps through a continuing resolution that funds the government at the current levels, and possibly a Medicare refinement bill.

Question from Chatter: How did you each appraise today's questions directed to the various lawyers by the Supreme Court justices today?

Representative J.D. Hayworth: I thought that if you were looking simply at the tone of the justices and the frequency of their questions, it seemed to me that there seems to be a bias tilting toward the Gore team -- just based on the proceedings.

Representative Peter Deutsch: I watched, also, gavel to gavel this afternoon, and my first impression is how proud I am to be a Floridian and how proud to be an American. It was an incredible exercise in American democracy. If I were focusing on one line of questioning that kept coming up, I think the justices were consistent in their questions in pointing out that Florida law, both statutory and case law, is set up to have voter intent determined, and that manual recounts are part of the Florida statutes to get a more accurate reflection of voter intent.

And it seemed almost silly, the arguments that Secretary Harris and Governor Bush's attorneys were making, that the Florida statutes' intent was to cut off the will and a fair and accurate assessment of voter intent in Florida.

Representative J.D. Hayworth: There is nothing sillier and sadder than the spectacle of those on the bench attempting to legislate. I pray that is not the result of today's proceedings.

Question from Felix: For both representatives, is there any way that both sides can heal this debate?

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Representative Peter Deutsch: Absolutely. I think that when a fair and accurate count is over, whoever has won, I believe, will have the respect and goodwill of all of the American people. But I think it is critical that we get to that point, and it has also been scary that the Bush campaign has raised the specter of attempting to use extra-legal methods if they are unsuccessful in terms of a fair and accurate count.

Representative J.D. Hayworth: Sadly, that type of response from Peter, with a rhetorical tip of the cap to reconciliation, is eradicated with this type of charge he's making. I think it's absolutely necessary that we respect the rule of law, and I don't want to get into rhetorical vitriol; I simply want to offer my point of view.

I think it is important to understand that Secretary Harris is following the letter of Florida law, that a state court in Florida upheld her ability to do so, and that, in unprecedented fashion, the Florida Supreme Court intervened, and what I fear, if you want to talk about extra legal, is the notion that now the seven justices will become seven imperial legislators and attempt to write new law in their opinion. That is a very dangerous precedent.

Representative Peter Deutsch: I am not raising the specter of the Bush campaign's extralegal activities. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison last night on TV specifically raised the specter of the Florida Legislature, if they're not happy with the court's decision, of sending a competing list of electors to the Congress for our January 6 meeting, for those electors elected by the Florida Legislature to be the correct electors of Florida, irregardless of what the Florida Supreme Court says. The speaker of the Florida House for the past several days has been extensively quoted as saying the exact same thing.

Question from TXDEM: Will both guests commit to supporting the decision made by the Florida Supreme Court?

Representative Peter Deutsch: Absolutely.

Representative J.D. Hayworth: Let me thank the TXDEM -- that I appreciate the effort to try to arbitrarily close the curtain on this based on a court decision. I think it's important to point out that what Peter describes as extralegal, in terms of the Florida Legislature, is not extralegal but, in fact, provided for under previous elections and, more importantly, under the Constitution.

Representative Peter Deutsch: I guess I'm no longer shocked to hear Republicans hearing they're not going to follow the rule of law set out by legal authority, and that they're at this point ready to do anything to assure that George Bush becomes president.

Representative J.D. Hayworth: That's totally false.

Question from Apoliticalgirl: Do you think that this election might make America rethink our electoral system or if any changes might be made?

Representative J.D. Hayworth: Senator-elect Clinton of New York has already said that she will introduce legislation to abolish the Electoral College. I'm not so sure that's a step we should take. But I do believe that we will see efforts to have ballot reforms across the country.

Representative Peter Deutsch: One thing I can be sure of in Broward County where I live is that we will never use this type of voting system again. I would hope that this type of computer card is eliminated throughout America.

Chat Moderator: Regardless of how the Florida Supreme Court rules on the issue of hand counts, should both Gore and Bush let this be the last word, or should they appeal an adverse ruling?

Representative J.D. Hayworth: I believe, as Secretary Baker warned almost a week ago, once you start down the road to litigation, it is very difficult to cut yourself out of that Gordian Knot.

Representative Peter Deutsch: Again, the vice president last Thursday offered a Solomonesque-type proposal, to commit to a fair and accurate count throughout the state and stop all legal proceedings. I don’t speak for the Gore campaign, but I would believe that that proposal is still on the table, and I would urge Governor Bush to agree to that proposal.

Representative J.D. Hayworth: Understand that Vice President Gore's proposal is itself extralegal, because Florida law mandated that a statewide recount would have had to taken place by November 10, and he offered that following the November 10 deadline.

Question from Test: Representative Deutsch, don't you think that the voters’ intent is clear when the rest of the ballot -- other that the presidential vote -- is clearly punched through with no chads hanging, and there is only a dimple marking on the presidential vote? Doesn't that tell you that the "voter" clearly decided not to cast a vote for president? And aren't you, in turn, creating votes for Gore?

Representative Peter Deutsch: The standard that exists throughout the country and Texas statute is a dimpled standard. Having looked at these ballots for hours, when you see a chad that a stylus literally stuck a hole through the chad, and there were other votes on the ballot, I think it's fair to say that voter wanted to push that chad out and it didn't go out. There are times that the machines do not seem to align properly, so you have some precincts where there are literally dozens of dimples. That would seem to infer there was a machine problem in that particular precinct.

Representative J.D. Hayworth: I worry that this entire exercise of recount in predominantly Democratic counties, of constantly changing rules for what is accepted as a vote, makes for something worse than mischief. It makes for county-sanctioned vote fraud, and it should be of concern to every American.

Representative Peter Deutsch: A number of states provide for manual recounts, including Texas and Massachusetts and a number of states. In fact, one of our colleagues, Congressman Delahunt of Massachusetts, is in the Congress due to a manual recount of the same type of ballots using the dimpled standard in Massachusetts.

Question from Mack: Should we pass legislation that all counties go to an all-electronic ballot process?

Representative J.D. Hayworth: I think that's something that will be considered. And -- not to be trite -- but how do you define electronic? One of the things Peter omitted in discussing Texas law is the fact that the state of Texas features optical scan balloting in all but one dozen counties. It's a legitimate concern, but I'm not sure. I think it will require thought, debate and research if we want to standardize or federalize a ballot.

Representative Peter Deutsch: I don't want to become an election-machine expert. I can tell you again that the balloting system in Broward County, which is used in many places throughout the country, is totally flawed, is an ancient technology and needs to be replaced and will be replaced in Broward County and, hopefully, everyplace in America.

Chat Moderator: What issues can the new Congress and new administration focus on that might encourage bipartisan cooperation?

Representative J.D. Hayworth: Ironically, it could be election reform. Dealing with this, because we see it to be a problem on both sides of the aisle, and oftentimes -- as I think Peter will agree -- we come together when we think there is a common problem.

Representative Peter Deutsch: I would add that our disagreements are much smaller than our agreements. There are a lot more bipartisan efforts to improve the lives of people of the U.S. than the rhetoric sometimes during the heat of campaigns. Whoever is elected president, regardless of what happens in Congress, there will be a commitment to working together towards economic security, health security and national security that is universal.

Chat Moderator: Thank you for joining us today, Representative Peter Deutsch.

Representative Peter Deutsch: Hopefully everyone will have a chance to visit Florida on many occasions. In Florida we say there are two kinds of people in the U.S.: Those who live in Florida and those who want to live in Florida.

Chat Moderator: Thank you for joining us today, Representative J.D. Hayworth.

Representative J.D. Hayworth: Thank you, and for purposes of full disclosure, we should point out that Peter recently vacationed in Arizona!

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