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Floor Speech
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Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about the SAVE America Act. I support the SAVE America Act. I believe that anybody that votes in an American election needs to be an American citizen, and I believe that anyone who shows up to vote needs to present a photo ID to prove they are who they say they are.
Free and fair elections are the foundation of our Nation. It is the 250th anniversary this year of our founding. Voting here is about American citizens voting. And without strong protections, this foundation of 250 years will crumble.
The American people are clear. They believe American elections should be decided by American citizens, not by illegal immigrants.
Listen to the Democrats talk. They think it is fine, let any illegal immigrant vote. You heard from the minority leader yesterday in terms of what we want to do to protect the rights of American citizens to make sure the elections are free and fair. When illegal immigrants vote, the voice of American citizens is undermined.
The fact is, Joe Biden's open border policies undermined elections in this country. Under Joe Biden and the Democrats, over 10 million illegal immigrants flooded into our country, to communities all across the State. Now, Democrats want to make it possible for illegal immigrants to decide the outcome of elections in this Nation.
Democrats are once again prioritizing illegal immigrants and illegal immigrant criminals over American citizens, and that is what they have been doing. That is why we are in the situation we are in, with a shutdown at the Department of Homeland Security and why, specifically, today we are on the floor to talk about the SAVE America Act.
Many far-left sanctuary cities already make it easier for illegal immigrants to vote. They have set it up that way because in 19 States and in the District of Columbia, illegal immigrants can get a driver's license with no proof of citizenship whatsoever.
I am against it. I have opposed it from the beginning when the first State proposed it, and now, 19 States and the District do it. In California, in Maryland, Vermont, and Washington, DC, noncitizens are allowed to vote in local elections. I think that is wrong.
It is a felony for illegal immigrants to vote in Federal elections; yet we know it is happening.
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security arrested a criminal illegal immigrant from Africa. He entered the Nation illegally over 20 years ago. He was ordered to be deported in 2002. He first registered to vote in 2005, and he has been voting in Federal elections since 2008.
Most recently, this illegal immigrant voted in the 2024 election. He voted in the State of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is a swing State. It was won by tight margins in both the Presidential and the Senate races.
He should have never been allowed to vote in the United States, and this should never be allowed to happen.
Now, the SAVE America Act protects the vote of every single American citizen. What it says is simple: If you want to vote in the United States of America, you need to be a citizen of the United States of America, and you need to show a photo ID at the poll in order to vote. It is common sense.
Americans show ID every single day. You want to buy a beer? You need to show an ID. You want to get on a plane? You need to show a photo ID.
I have people here in the Gallery from Wyoming--students from Burlington and their teachers, optometrists from around the State of Wyoming. They are all flying back to Wyoming. Every one of them is going to have to show a photo ID to get on the plane.
If you want to cash a check, you need to show a photo ID. Voting should be equally important to show a photo ID.
It should be no different than all these other things. Photo IDs protect against voter fraud, and they prevent illegal immigrants from voting.
Most importantly, it tells each American citizen that their vote counts and their vote matters, and it is not going to be watered down by people who are not citizens of the United States.
American voters in 36 States, including Wyoming, already show an ID in order to vote in elections. We do have voter ID laws in Wyoming. And getting a voter ID is actually free, no cost involved.
So the SAVE America Act that we are going to be discussing and voting on today builds on current, commonsense laws that work in so many States. It makes it easy to vote, and it makes it harder to cheat in every State across the country.
Every Democrat ought to be supporting this, but none of them do. Why do Democrats in this Chamber oppose showing an ID to vote? I think the minority leader is opposed because--in his words--he says it ``allows ICE to kick tens of millions of people off the voter rolls.'' That is who the Democrats are fighting for--illegal immigrant voting. Not for American citizens, not for the rights of the American people to govern our own Nation--no, he is talking about tens of millions of people off the voter rolls.
How did they get on the voter rolls in the first place if they are not citizens? Well, it is automatic voter drives and when people sign up for a motor vehicle license, a driver's license. A number of States have automatic voter registration connected to it. So you get a license, and even if you are illegal, you can be signed up to vote. Certain States are in the process of having to try to figure out how they went wrong and what they need to do to correct it for Federal offices. Oregon State is in the middle of it right now.
If it is true that there are tens of millions of people on the voter rolls that Chuck Schumer talked about that ICE would remove because they are not citizens on the voter rolls, how bad does it have to get? If that is the case, this situation is much worse than most Americans fear.
What we hear from the minority leader saying that this is Jim Crow 2.0--that is fearmongering, and he knows it.
One of our Democratic colleagues will be on this floor later today from the State of Georgia. He requires anybody that wants to show up at one of his campaign rallies to show a photo ID to get in. Apparently, you need to show a photo ID to get into a Georgia campaign rally for a Democrat, and he doesn't want you to have to show one to vote. I guess he doesn't want illegal immigrants at his rallies, but it is OK if they vote for him.
It is astonishing. Why do Democrats support showing a photo ID to attend a political rally and oppose it to vote in an election?
Look, what is clear to all of us is that Democrats oppose elections that limit participations to just American citizens. They don't like that idea. And they are likely to line up one after another today to vote to say: Nope, don't check the ID with a photo on it in order to vote because we want to cram as many people as we can with their ballots into the ballot box to be counted, no matter where they are from.
Democrats said the same thing after the State of Georgia enacted voter ID laws in 2021. What were the results? Well, more people actually voted, not fewer. Turnout hit record levels. The lines moved faster than ever before. The Democrats say it was an impediment.
Voter ID is important.
Democrats' voter suppression lies have been thoroughly debunked time and time again. Yet they continue to repeat them. Voter ID and citizenship proof are safeguards for our elections; they are not restrictions.
The SAVE America Act is how we make elections safe, secure, and a true reflection of the American people. Every American should desire that American elections be decided by American citizens. Who wouldn't? Well, somebody that wants to load up the ballots with people who may vote for them, whether they are citizens or not.
Every Member of the Senate should support the SAVE America Act. By opposing this bill, Democrats are once again putting illegal immigrants ahead of American voters, and Republicans are going to make sure that every voter in America and every citizen voter in America knows which side of that issue people stand on--photo ID and citizenship or not.
The Republicans are here to say it is important that only citizens vote and people prove who they are by showing a photo ID when they go to the ballot box.
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