The House Homeland Security Committee meeting Wednesday started with strong words from Alabama’s Mike Rogers, who says that he’s ready to impose requirements on states to secure their election systems against hackers, calling for a baseline of security that must be met prior to receiving money from the government to upgrade outdated, and vulnerable, voting machines and secure other election infrastructure.

House Democrats’ first bill of the new Congress mandates states use paper ballots rather than digital ones and make other security upgrades in exchange for $120 million. But it also pushes for a whole host of progressive priorities opposed by many Republicans.  H.R. 1 also known as the For the People Act, would expand automatic voter registration, restore felons voting rights and make Election Day a national holiday among other things.  Rogers said the Democrats’ proposal is a non-starter, but is open to compromise on the security parts.

Rogers wants to organize a meeting in the next two months with House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and leaders of the Senate Homeland Security Committee to hammer out a bill that can win bipartisan support in both chambers.

Rogers said he hopes lawmakers can agree to a bill with specific mandates this Congress that goes further than the Secure Elections Act.  That bill “didn’t really crank my tractor,” he said, adding “I didn’t think it went far enough. We’ve got to be more specific.”

We’ll have more on this story as it develops.

(al.com/www.al.com/the Washington Post)