Recognizing That Allowing Illegal Immigrants the Right to Vote Diminishes the Voting Power of United States Citizens

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, this resolution is simply a divisive political stunt meant to stir up conservative voters ahead of the midterm elections and seeks to stoke the worst kinds of sentiments in the body politic.

The resolution states that it is ``of paramount importance that the United States maintains the legitimacy of its elections and protects them from interference, including interference from foreign threats.'' Yet the resolution does not even mention the greatest ``foreign threat'' we face--Russian interference intended to disrupt our elections and sow chaos in our political system. The GOP hypocrisy is breathtaking. The Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and others have worked all year to undermine and discredit the Mueller investigation into the Russian interference with our 2016 election. Furthermore, House Republicans have voted to block needed funding to help states better secure their election systems from the ongoing Russian efforts to interfere in the 2018 election--ongoing efforts that have been confirmed by senior Administration officials. In short, this resolution ignores the real threats our elections are facing, and instead plays political games.

The resolution also states that ``voting is fundamental to a functioning democracy,'' yet it fails to address any of the real threats to voting rights faced by U.S. citizens. After the conservative members of the Supreme Court effectively gutted the Voting Rights Act's pre-clearance requirement in Shelby County v. Holder, many states have sought to enact voting restrictions that target African Americans and other minority groups. This resolution says and does nothing about those actions.

The resolution shows that Republican support for States' rights is trumped by anti-immigrant sentiment. An earlier version of the resolution obtained by Breitbart correctly stated that ``the Constitution allows States and localities to grant non-citizens the right to vote in non-Federal elections.'' This clause is no longer in the resolution, perhaps because Republicans understood how hypocritical it made them look, especially because the resolution is focused on condemning state and local ordinances regarding voting in non-federal elections.

Putting this resolution on the floor is nothing but a political stunt, a game designed only for political advertising for the mid-term elections forty-three days from today.

I refuse to play that cynical game with Republicans and will cast my vote as ``present'' in recognition of the fraudulent nature of these proceedings.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source