Prohibiting Voting By Noncitizens in District of Columbia Elections
Floor Speech
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. STEIL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for his good work, and I thank my colleague, August Pfluger, for bringing forward today's legislation.
U.S. elections should be for U.S. citizens only. It is a simple premise. When I began my work on trying to stop noncitizens from voting in the United States, I was often told by people that they didn't believe that this was actually the case. That is how radical of a provision that exists in Washington, D.C., law.
Let's set the stage for folks listening today. Let's set the stage to understand how radical this provision is in Washington, D.C.
To be eligible to vote in municipal elections in our Nation's Capital, an individual only has to reside in Washington, D.C., for 30 days. Let's walk through that.
An individual who works at the Russian Embassy holding a Russian passport in their pocket, residing in the United States Capital of Washington, D.C., for simply 30 days, could walk out of the embassy, walk to a polling location and, because Washington, D.C., does not even have photo ID, would not need to pull their Russian passport out of their pocket and would be eligible to vote for Mayor in our Nation's Capital.
What the Democrats want to do, Mr. Speaker, is use Washington, D.C., as a petri dish for liberalizing voting laws across the country. What my Democratic friends want to do, Mr. Speaker, is allow noncitizens to vote across the country.
The arguments that are being made fail on the merits when you recognize that, in fact, the law, Mr. Speaker, today, allows noncitizens who simply resided in the Nation's Capital for 30 days to be eligible to vote. Again, individuals working at embassies across this city are eligible to vote for positions like Mayor and alderman. That is the height of hypocrisy. We need to make sure that U.S. elections are for U.S. citizens only.
In our Nation's Capital, we should be looking at a whole host of election law reforms. In fact, I am of the belief that we should make Washington, D.C., the gold standard of election laws to actually show the American people what happens when we put in place provisions with strong election integrity.
My colleague across the aisle referenced legislation that Republicans are working for. Let's take an example, and let's dig into that for a moment.
Let's look at the election integrity law that was passed in the State of Georgia. This, if we recall, in 2021 was a law that then-President Joe Biden called Jim Crow 2.0. In fact, the stories that were told about that legislation earned him, I think, four Pinocchios, or whatever they call that in The Washington Post. This is how ridiculous it was.
Corporate America bought into the misstatements and the falsities of President Biden. If we recall, Major League Baseball removed the All- Star Game out of Atlanta, Georgia, following Georgia passing this piece of legislation.
Of course, two elections have passed since that legislation went into effect. So we should look at the empirical data, not at the statements that were made, the hyperbolic statements that were made by my colleagues on the left. We should look at the empirical data of what took place when those reforms were implemented.
What we saw was people increasing their confidence in our elections. That is a good thing. That is a good thing. In the University of Georgia, Georgia State put forward a robust survey of how elections were conducted in the State of Georgia. What I saw was high voter participation and people actually having a positive view of how election results were conducted.
If I recall correctly, it was zero percent statistically of Blacks who had a poor or negative voting experience. We should champion that. We should work to instill election integrity provisions across the board. When people increase their confidence in our elections, then they are more likely to participate. Mr. Speaker, that is a good thing. What we want is U.S. citizens participating in our elections.
However, what we see from my colleagues on the left is a whole host of policies that actually weaken election integrity. We have held debates as it relates to photo identification, again, another provision that should be in Washington, D.C., law.
Photo identification is almost the touchstone of what election integrity is. It is making sure people are who they say they are. It is a simple provision.
I am often reminded of a time when I was driving back home in Wisconsin. I was heading back home, and I walked in to buy a six-pack of beer. The clerk recognized me and said: Hey, Bryan, how are you doing?
I said: Good. It is good to see you.
I set my six-pack of beer on the counter, and she said: Bryan, I need to see your ID.
So just like every American, what did I do?
I reached in, I grabbed my wallet, I pulled out my ID, and I handed it over to the clerk.
In my opinion, I think it is absolutely nuts that we protect our beer more than we protect our ballots in our Nation's Capital. We should be looking at ways to strengthen election integrity here in our Nation's Capital, the front door for many folks to the greatest country in the world.
Instead of fighting back and saying: Yes, in our Nation's Capital, as the Democrats will say, we should allow noncitizens to be voting in our Nation's elections. We should actually be saying: No. Let's use Washington, D.C., as the gold standard of election integrity.
What I believe we will see is exactly what we saw in Georgia. Despite the hyperbolic statements being made by past-President Joe Biden and by my colleagues on the left, what we will actually see is an increase in confidence in our elections. We will see growing participation. We will see a strengthening of our democracy.
It is why this legislation is such an important step forward in the process of strengthening the integrity of our elections, increasing Americans' confidence, and garnering additional voter participation across the country.
I think it is relevant to also note that last Congress this bill came before us, and 52 of our Democratic colleagues voted with every Republican in the House. It will be interesting today, Mr. Speaker, to see how many of my colleagues across the aisle have the courage to stand up and to say that U.S. elections should be for U.S. citizens only.
The big difference here is now we have an opportunity to see this legislation move forward in the United States Senate. This is a bill that could actually be signed into law. We have an opportunity for the first time in a number of years to not only pass election integrity legislation here in the United States House of Representatives, we have an opportunity to pass election integrity legislation into law.
Let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, I am excited about the opportunity to stand there when President Trump signs this bill into law. This is an opportunity for a major step forward in election integrity here in our Nation's Capital. It is also a statement across the country because I believe the radical Democrats want to use Washington, D.C., voting laws as a petri dish to roll out their plan across the country.
My colleagues on the radical left would like to see noncitizens voting in my home State of Wisconsin; in small communities and big communities all across this country to drive forward and assist them in advancing a radical agenda.
It is why making sure that we pass this law today is so important: to make sure that we are standing up for common sense; to make sure that we are standing up for election integrity; to make sure that only U.S. citizens have a voice in U.S. elections.
This legislation should be straightforward. To my colleagues on the left, I am afraid it won't be.
I am proud to know that I believe every Republican who votes today will vote ``yes'' on this important measure. That is because it is the Republican Party, my colleagues with common sense who believe that we need election integrity in our Nation's Capital. More importantly, we need election integrity across the country.
As we begin this effort, I think we have an opportunity as Americans to see increased confidence in our elections. Once again, when we increase confidence, we increase participation.
Our principles should be U.S. elections are for U.S. citizens only. This legislation does that.
Mr. Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to vote ``yes.''
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. STEIL. Will the gentleman yield?
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. STEIL. It was signed into law. It was signed into law in the State of Georgia by the Governor of the State of Georgia.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. STEIL. Will the gentleman yield?
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. STEIL. I assume the assembly and senate of the State of Georgia prior to signature by the Governor of the State.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Source