'Ought To Pass Unanimously': Mike Lee Advocates For Bill To Stop Non-Citizens From Voting

last year

At a Congressional Republican press briefing on Wednesday, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) spoke about the SAVE Act.

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Transcript

00:00 Thank you. We have a couple of sayings that carry significance on Capitol Hill.

00:05 One of them is if everything's an emergency, then nothing is. Another one is if everyone's family,

00:12 then no one is. That one also has special significance in my state where we have

00:17 really large families, so it gets a little more complicated there. But the idea is that it does

00:22 matter to be a citizen. And if you are not a citizen, there are certain things that that

00:28 implies. One citizen, one vote. That's how it's supposed to work. That's how it's always been.

00:34 That's what federal law currently requires. But when federal law has been interpreted as

00:39 precluding in many ways, the voter registration officials in the various states from even

00:48 inquiring into someone's citizenship when addressing voter roll issues, we have a problem.

00:57 This is a piece of legislation that we should pass right away. It's legislation that really

01:02 ought to pass unanimously in both houses of Congress very, very quickly. Because the only

01:10 reason to oppose this that I couldn't think of would be if you're comfortable with or even

01:15 somehow want noncitizens to vote and noncitizens in some cases to influence the outcome of elections

01:23 and make them different. Look, we all know that that's a problem. Just think about this for a

01:29 minute. Nobody knows for sure how many noncitizens live in the United States, so we have to rely on

01:34 estimates. Estimates are that the number of people who have entered this country unlawfully since

01:40 Joe Biden became president, somewhere between 10 and 12 million. And there are estimates putting

01:46 the total number of noncitizens in this country at somewhere approaching 30 million. If those

01:52 estimates are accurate, that would mean that roughly one in 11 or one in 12 people currently

01:59 residing in the United States happens to be a noncitizen. This is not an academic exercise,

02:06 especially when you consider that in some parts of the country, their numbers may be

02:13 disproportionately represented. There is not a good legitimate reason to oppose this bill. In fact,

02:20 there are all kinds of things that would be wrong with this institution if it failed

02:25 immediately to pass this bill and send it to the president for his signature.

02:30 We can all acknowledge that federal law prohibits noncitizens from voting in federal elections.

02:38 And the fact that we don't have any mechanism in place currently to bring that about is falling.

02:46 Look, every time you go just about anywhere, do just about anything, you can see examples

02:51 of where you have to prove who you are. Something as simple as starting a job,

02:56 you know you're going to have to show up, you're going to have to process all the I-9 paperwork.

03:00 And if you're a U.S. citizen, you're going to need to show up with either your birth certificate

03:05 or a U.S. passport indicating that you once have demonstrated proof of your citizenship

03:11 and of your U.S. birth. So why shouldn't some of those same standards apply, making exceptions in

03:18 the absence of available documentary proof where necessary, when registering to vote?

03:23 This is a sacred responsibility, one that we can't treat lightly. We owe it to ourselves,

03:30 to each other, and most importantly to the American people to make sure that those making

03:35 decisions on behalf of our government and who's going to serve in government, in elective office,

03:41 are indeed empowered to make those decisions. The Constitution and our commitment to it

03:47 requires nothing less. Thank you. It really is an honor, I will add, to introduce this

03:52 legislation with my friend and colleague, Congressman Chip Roy, who has done yeoman's

03:57 work in this. It's an honor to stand here with him and with Speaker Johnson and with so many

04:02 other allies in the House of Representatives. In the Senate, we already have a growing list

04:07 of co-sponsors, including Senators Kramer, Cruz, Tuberville, Marshall, Budd,

04:12 Kennedy, and Scott of Florida. Thank you.

'Ought To Pass Unanimously': Mike Lee Advocates For Bill To Stop Non-Citizens From Voting

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