Disapproving the Action of the District of Columbia Council in Approving the Local Resident Voting Rights Amendment Act of 2022

Floor Speech

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Ms. LEE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of Chairman Comer's resolution disapproving of the D.C. Council's recent action to allow noncitizens, including illegal immigrants, to vote in local elections. The council's actions undermine voter confidence, faith in our elections, and, ultimately, the sovereignty of the United States.

Voting is a sacred right reserved only for American citizens. That is why Federal law and the Constitution prohibit noncitizens from voting in Federal elections.

In order to further promote integrity in our elections, many States have also prohibited noncitizens from voting in their State and local elections. Our Nation's Capital should be a model for the rest of the country, but for years, the District has run poor elections. Now, the council wants to take it even further by allowing noncitizens to vote.

At a time when communities across our Nation are dealing with the consequences of an unprecedented number of criminals, human smugglers, and deadly fentanyl pouring across our borders, it is unthinkable that the D.C. Council wants to reward those who have broken the law.

Further, this would let diplomats vote in D.C. elections, some of whom can be agents of our adversaries, like China and Russia. That is why several of my colleagues on the House Administration and Oversight and Accountability Committees last Congress, including Chairman Steil and Mr. Comer, sent a letter to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, criticizing the measure and calling on her to reject it.

Congress can and should exercise its constitutional responsibility over D.C. and stop this law with this joint resolution of disapproval.

I commend Chairman Comer for leading this commonsense measure and taking steps to restore voter confidence.

We have seen that in States like Georgia and Florida, when you implement key election integrity tools that make it easier to vote and harder to cheat, we can boost voter confidence, which in turn boosts voter turnout.

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Ms. LEE of Florida. Mr. Speaker, we need more election integrity, not less. I urge my colleagues to support this resolution.

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