During remarks on the House floor, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) demanded support for HR 8281, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, which would require proof of citizenship in order to register to votte.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Without objection, the gentleman is recognized.
00:06Thank you.
00:08This afternoon we'll be voting on legislation that demands the attention of every single
00:12American.
00:13This will be one of the most important votes that members of this chamber will ever take
00:17in their entire careers.
00:19And it's an issue we never thought we would have to actually address, but that moment
00:23has come to us now.
00:25Should Americans, and Americans alone, determine the outcome of American elections?
00:32Or should we allow foreigners and illegal aliens to decide who sits in the White House,
00:37and here in the People's House, and in the Senate?
00:41As the progressive wing of Washington has slowly crept in, and they've marched through
00:45our institutions, and they've infected every level of government, they have brought us
00:49to a generation-defining moment.
00:51That's the moment that we have upon us now.
00:54And because the Democratic Party has shown time and time again that they want our borders
00:58wide open to every country on the planet, and that they want illegal aliens voting in
01:04our elections, we now have reached a fateful decision point.
01:08And here's the critical question.
01:11Should only American citizens, citizens of this country, be allowed to determine who
01:16controls the People's House, the Senate, and the White House?
01:18Now look, every Republican, emphatically, every one of our colleagues here says yes.
01:24The answer to that question is yes.
01:26And every Republican will vote for the bill that we have on the floor today.
01:31And this is a question that almost every American agrees with us upon.
01:36Here's the number.
01:37Eighty-nine percent of Americans believe that only Americans should decide our elections.
01:42And that includes, by the way, 82 percent of Democrats, 80 percent of black and African-American
01:47voters, 78 percent of Hispanic Latino voters.
01:51Everybody that looks at this question answers it the right way.
01:54Just about everybody.
01:56And we're about to find out here very shortly if all the members of this chamber agree.
02:01Because Americans all over the country understand what's at stake here.
02:05They refuse to hand over our country to illegal aliens, cartels, traffickers, and violent
02:11criminals and murderers.
02:13That's what's at stake.
02:14Now look, I hate to say it, but we have so many non-citizens in the country right now
02:20that if only one out of a hundred of those illegal aliens voted, you're talking about
02:25hundreds of thousands of votes being cast.
02:29And remember, these aren't huddled masses of frightened families yearning to be free.
02:34In January of this year, we took the largest delegation of members of Congress to the border.
02:40In January 3rd, we went to Eagle Pass, Texas.
02:42It was the epicenter of the open border crisis at the time.
02:45And we met with border patrol agents and high officers in U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
02:52And they told us the truth.
02:53They said down there at Eagle Pass, of all the many, many countless people who have come
02:58across that border illegally because Joe Biden and Secretary Mayorkas opened the border wide,
03:04they said you should know this, members of Congress, they said 70 percent, 7-0, 70 percent
03:10of the people who crossed illegally at Eagle Pass, down there at the Del Rio sector, are
03:15single adult males within the ages of 18 and 49.
03:18These are not huddled masses of people seeking refuge from persecution and seeking asylum
03:24here for just causes.
03:27These are people who do not have our best designs in mind.
03:32Because of Joe Biden's open border policies, we've got ISIS smuggling rings operating in
03:36our country.
03:37We have cartels who have operational control of the border.
03:41We've got Chinese and Russian spies here in our midst, roaming freely in our country.
03:47We've got murderers and rapists offending again and again across the country, and they
03:51are never deported.
03:54These are people that Joe Biden and his administration are releasing into the country every day.
04:00The director of the FBI has testified multiple times now before Congress, before our committees,
04:04and said all the red lights are flashing.
04:07What is he referring to?
04:08The unprecedented, dangerous situation.
04:11The enemy is here.
04:12The enemy is in our country now.
04:15It's endangering American citizens, law-abiding citizens.
04:19You see the headlines on the news now almost every day, another violent act committed by
04:23an illegal.
04:25Joe Biden did that to the country.
04:26His administration did that because they opened the border, they engineered the open border.
04:31And it is absurd, and it's outrageous, and people know it.
04:35And that's one of the things that's going to be a big factor in November.
04:38But I'll tell you this, too.
04:40Since our elections are so razor thin, it's not just our physical safety of our communities
04:46that are in jeopardy, it's also the integrity of the ballot box.
04:50And with just a few precincts and a few states often now deciding the makeup of Congress
04:54and the White House, we aren't just facing dangerous individuals, we're facing a dangerously
04:59high number of dangerous individuals who could actually change the outcome of our elections
05:04and thus determine the future of this great republic.
05:09And just as our dear friend, Congresswoman Miller-Meeks will tell you, she won her election
05:13in 2020 by six votes.
05:16Six votes.
05:17Some of these elections, some of your elections, are very, very close.
05:21And we've got to keep that in mind.
05:22So here's what, here's the solution.
05:24Today, today is this fateful moment.
05:25I mean, again, I think it's probably one of the most, it may be the most important vote
05:29that you'll take as a member of this body.
05:32Because you're going to determine the course of this country today.
05:33You're going to determine whether you want the elections to be safe and fair.
05:39The SAVE Act is the bill before us.
05:41It's not complicated.
05:42It's written in very plain language so that everyone can read it and understand it.
05:46We are merely suggesting that because so many illegal aliens are in the country, and there's
05:52no disputing that there's millions upon millions of them, I think the actual count is probably
05:57somewhere close to 16 million illegals who have come across that border in the last three
06:01and a half years since Joe Biden opened it wide, beginning on his first day in office.
06:05Because there's so many of them here, it is worth, ask yourself this question to our guests
06:10in the gallery, is it worth adding a layer of protection to ensure that all those illegals
06:15cannot register to vote?
06:17Everybody would answer yes if we asked for an audible response, because that's obvious
06:21to us.
06:23Everybody understands the SAVE Act will do several important things, and all of them
06:26are obvious common sense measures.
06:28Here's the list.
06:29It requires state election officials to ask about citizenship before providing voter registration
06:35forms.
06:36What a concept.
06:37Number two, it requires an individual to provide proof of citizenship if indeed he or she wants
06:43to register to vote in our federal elections.
06:46Number three, it provides states with access to our federal agency databases.
06:50Why is that so important?
06:51Well, so they can remove noncitizens from voter rolls and confirm citizenship for individuals
06:56who lack that all-important proof of citizenship.
07:00Number four, it directs the Department of Homeland Security to determine whether to
07:05conduct removal proceedings if an illegal alien, a noncitizen, has been identified as
07:11having registered to vote in federal elections.
07:15American citizens will be protected and in no way harmed by this bill.
07:19There is not a conceivable argument that the Democrats can make to oppose the common sense
07:25measures that we're putting before them today.
07:27Nothing changes the voter registration process in the states.
07:31The only people who will face hurdles here are those who are trying to break our federal
07:35laws.
07:37And that's why it's patently absurd that the White House issued a veto threat.
07:41They issued a veto threat.
07:42President Biden says he's going to veto the bill.
07:45And Democrat leadership right now is engaging in a very robust whipping operation to stop
07:50this bill from being passed.
07:52It is absolutely outrageous.
07:54And the American people need to know what's happening here.
07:57It's dangerous.
07:58It's dangerous for the future of our country.
07:59It's dangerous for the future of your family if you're watching at home.
08:03Joseph Story was the great American legal scholar and Supreme Court justice, the author
08:07of the seminal commentaries on the Constitution that we used to have to read in law school.
08:11And he said it this way on this subject.
08:13This is very important.
08:14Listen to what he said.
08:15He said, quote, if aliens might be admitted indiscriminately to enjoy all the rights of
08:20citizens at the will of a single state, the union might itself be endangered by an influx
08:26of foreigners hostile to its institutions, ignorant of its powers, and incapable of due
08:33estimate of its privileges, unquote.
08:36He said that so well.
08:37I wholeheartedly agree.
08:39I know everyone on our side of the aisle does.
08:41If we're going to maintain this great American experiment, this grand experiment in self-governance
08:45that we've now kept for 248 years, if we're going to keep it for more, then we have to
08:51ensure that the outcomes of our election remain in the hands of Americans alone.
08:56Americans alone.
08:57Now, some of them, some of our colleagues are arguing, some of the outside interest
09:01groups who want those open borders, the open borders crowd, they're pointing out that it's
09:06already illegal to vote and you don't really need to do this.
09:11That's true.
09:12It is illegal to vote under federal law.
09:13Not only a U.S. citizen is supposed to vote in a U.S. election, but here's the problem.
09:18The law is not being followed.
09:20Even though it's already illegal, this is happening.
09:22Let me give you a couple examples.
09:23In Georgia, state election officials are catching thousands of noncitizens who are trying to
09:27register to vote, but they are one of only a few states that is making that effort right
09:33now to check the voter rolls on the front end before the disaster occurs.
09:37In May, the state of Ohio, they had to remove 137 noncitizen voters from the rolls when
09:43they did a quick check.
09:45In May of last year, Virginia removed almost 1,500 noncitizens from their voter rolls,
09:52but here's the catch.
09:54Only after more than 800 of those noncitizen ballots had been cast in 2019, they already
10:00participated in an election illegally.
10:02It shouldn't surprise us that criminals who break our border laws, my friends, are also
10:06going to break our election laws.
10:08These are not paragons of virtue in all these cases.
10:11The 70% of people who came across the border who are military-aged males coming into our
10:15country without any deterrence at all, they're not law-abiding citizens, my friends.
10:21They're illegal aliens, and they should not be participating in the election.
10:24Remember, if just a small percentage, a fraction of a fraction of all those illegals that Joe
10:29Biden has brought in here to vote, if they do vote, it wouldn't just change one race.
10:36It might potentially change all of our races.
10:38Now, despite the claims of our opponents, it's also true that there are no current preventative
10:43mechanisms to ensure that only those registering or voting are actually citizens.
10:49Perhaps the Democrat Party would prefer that we only identify fraudulent voters after the
10:54fact, but after an election is already decided and the new members are sworn in, that's not
10:59acceptable.
11:00That doesn't instill trust.
11:02It doesn't ensure the integrity of the system.
11:05Of course, that's nonsense.
11:07It's good and right to take preventative action now.
11:11We can look out on the horizon.
11:12We know the storm is coming.
11:14We know we have an unprecedented number of illegal aliens.
11:16We know many of them are being encouraged to register to vote, that they are doing so,
11:21and we know we've got a problem.
11:22So we have a duty here under the Constitution to ensure that it doesn't happen.
11:26And we have an instrument before us, a piece of legislation that will do just that.
11:30And there is no excuse, no excuse to oppose it.
11:35Of course, preventative action is desperately needed because of all this, and the stakes
11:40are so high and the loopholes are so wide that we have to do it.
11:44Regardless of what the detractors say, the voter laws are really that lax.
11:49If a citizen wants to vote for president, they just have to go to their local DMV, they
11:53go to the local welfare office or some other government agency, and they're given a very
11:57simple form and it says, hey, while you're here signing up for taxpayer benefits, Mr.
12:02non-citizen who just came across the border and was sent here, plane, train, or automobile
12:06by an NGO, who's, by the way, sending the receipt for that to the U.S. taxpayer that
12:09we're all funding.
12:10Hey, since you're here and you're signing up for benefits, do you also want to register
12:14to vote?
12:15And on the form that was passed, you know, by Congress back in the early 90s, the Motor
12:19Voter Registration Law, it just has one little box, are you a U.S. citizen?
12:24How many people are checking that box who are not supposed to?
12:27The problem is, whoever's working there is not allowed under current law to ask for proof
12:32of that citizenship.
12:33If somebody checks the box, they can't stop them and say, hey, do you got any paperwork
12:37to prove that?
12:38Where are you from?
12:39You have a funny accent.
12:40Oh, you don't speak English.
12:42Are you a citizen?
12:44There's no way that, they don't have any way to prove it.
12:47And I believe I stand with the American public when I say our elections are just too important
12:51to simply rely on the honor system by people who have already proven they have no regard
12:57or respect for our laws.
12:58Will we be so foolish as to think every one of the 500 guideways sneaking through our
13:05southern border every single day all have good intentions?
13:07Come on.
13:08We got to apply, we got to apply reason and common sense.
13:12Would we prefer to wait for fraud to happen and only do something after elections are
13:16finalized?
13:17No.
13:18We have to catch the fraud on the front end so there's no question about the integrity
13:22of our votes.
13:23Again, this is our duty to do so.
13:25If we don't catch any unlawful voters, great.
13:28That's wonderful.
13:29It means our systems are secure.
13:31If we do catch unlawful voters, then good.
13:34We stopped them from voting.
13:35We did what was right by the Constitution, right by our federal law, and right by the
13:40people that we represent.
13:42There should be no objection to this legislation at all.
13:44I'll conclude with this.
13:47Very often, well, I'd say I've been here eight years, almost eight years.
13:51Every so often in this chamber, we take a vote that clearly reveals what we think about
13:56the world.
13:57I mean, there are important votes every day, but there are some votes that define who we
14:02are.
14:03It defines our worldview.
14:04It defines what we believe about the Constitution, about the rule of law.
14:07It defines our careers, and it defines our character.
14:11It's a signal to the voters, fundamentally, about what we believe about our country.
14:18Republicans want 100% participation by citizens in our elections, eligible citizens who can
14:25vote.
14:26We want everybody to vote.
14:27We want 100% participation, but we want 0% fraud.
14:30We want American citizens to be the lone people who decide our elections.
14:35Here's the question that is about to be answered on this floor.
14:38Do Democrats want that same thing?
14:41Or do they want to hand over our country to the worst impulses and nefarious plans
14:45of foreign spies and criminals who will exploit the system for their own gain?
14:51Republicans are anxious to get this done.
14:52We're anxious to take the necessary steps to protect the integrity of every single vote,
14:56and we will ensure that we have free and fair elections, and we will ensure that only Americans
15:00decide American elections.
15:03The question that will be answered here is not a rhetorical question.
15:05This is a real, live exercise.
15:08Can Democrats say the same thing?
15:11Is there any measure that they will take to reduce the opportunity for fraud?
15:16Today is their chance.
15:18Today is their chance.
15:19And unfortunately, I'm not that hopeful that they're going to do the right thing.
15:23But you're about to find out.
15:25I yield back.