Providing for Consideration of Senate Amendment to H.R. Nasa Enhanced Use Leasing Extension Act of 2021
Floor Speech
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Mr. JOHNSON of Louisiana. Madam Speaker, just this morning, we learned that inflation rose 7 percent over the past year, the highest rate since 1982. We have empty shelves, and we have unfilled jobs due to the labor shortages across the country. Schools are shutting down again, crime is soaring in our cities, and faith in our institutions is in rapid decline.
What are Washington Democrats focused on? They want to blow up the rules of Congress so they can pass their extremist agenda to federalize local elections, legalize ballot harvesting, ban voter ID requirements, and fund their own campaigns with precious taxpayer dollars. It is truly unbelievable to the people back home.
Chuck Schumer says this is a response to the 2020 election and the State election laws passed in 2021. That is obviously not a true statement, because the bill they are peddling was first introduced in 2019.
Joe Biden says it is to stave off the reemergence of a second Jim Crow era in States like Texas and Georgia which passed election integrity measures this year. But that is a ridiculous charge. Literally, it is the opposite of the facts that any person can verify with a single internet search.
The truth is, Georgia's law has more days of early, in-person voting than Joe Biden's own home State of Delaware.
The 2020 election saw the highest turnout of voters in 120 years, and according to the Pew Research Center, 94 percent of Americans agree it is ``easy to vote.''
There is no widespread voter suppression in this country, and everybody knows it. In fact, voter registration disparities between minority and nonminority voters in States like Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisiana are below the national average and lower than Democrat-run States like New York, California, and Delaware. Those are the facts.
For Democrats, the only problem they are seeking to solve is the problem of how to secure for themselves more votes.
We have heard in New York, Democrats recently voted to allow foreign citizens to vote in American elections. You heard it right. It is a blatantly unconstitutional scheme that defies the most basic rule of our system. Seventh grade civics: American elections should be decided by American citizens. New York's ridiculous new law has been challenged in court. We don't know what the outcome of that is going to be, but we can all take a stand here tonight to reaffirm to the people of this great Nation that their legally cast votes will not be watered down and negated by the ballots of noncitizens.
Madam Speaker, if the previous question is defeated, Republicans will amend the rule to provide for consideration of a resolution that acknowledges this simple truth: Allowing illegal immigrants and noncitizens the right to vote devalues the franchise and diminishes the voting power of United States citizens.
We all have an opportunity to go on record right here tonight to make our positions on that issue clear. I urge my colleagues to reaffirm the rights of U.S. citizens and vote ``no'' on the previous question.
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