During a debate on the House floor on Thursday, Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) spoke in support of the then proposed SAVE Act, which requires voters to present proof of citizenship when registering to vote.
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NewsTranscript
00:00I rise in support of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act known as
00:05the SAVE Act introduced by my colleague Chip Roy of Texas. As chairman of the
00:09Committee on House Administration I've been focused on improving election
00:13integrity and increasing confidence in our elections. Let me be clear, non
00:19citizen voting reduces confidence in our elections. American elections are for
00:25American citizens and we intend to keep it that way. The SAVE Act will strengthen
00:30our elections administration and restore Americans confidence in our elections.
00:34The SAVE Act contains critical reforms to update the National Voter Registration Act
00:40which currently requires states to give registration forms to everyone who
00:45receives a driver's license regardless of citizenship. The bill before us would
00:51help states prevent non-citizens from voting in federal elections by
00:55requiring states to obtain documentary proof of US citizenship in person when
01:00registering an individual to vote in federal elections. You're sure to hear
01:04from my colleagues on the other side that non-citizen voting doesn't exist or that
01:08rarely happens or that we don't need to do anything about it. Couldn't be further
01:13from the truth. However, let's look back two months ago. The Secretaries of State
01:18that I had conversations with shared with me their difficulties that they're
01:21experiencing administering the most recent election. Two of their top
01:26concerns were about integrity of voter rolls and non-citizen voting. In our most
01:30recent elections we've just saw 13 individuals referred by the Michigan
01:35Secretary of State to the Attorney General for non-citizen voting in the state
01:39of Michigan. In the House of Representatives we often see close elections. We
01:43have one member here who won her election by simply six votes. It's clear we must
01:49pass the SAVE Act and prevent non-citizen voting. There's also been many
01:54other examples of non-citizens voting or being on state's voter rolls. Just a few
01:59years ago Illinois removed almost 600 non-citizens from its voter rolls. In
02:04Pennsylvania almost 10,000 non-citizens were removed from their voter rolls. In
02:09Georgia an audit recently determined more than 1600 non-citizens had attempted to
02:16register to vote. Every state also needs access to the tools necessary to remove
02:22non-citizens from their voter rolls. Right now states don't have free access to
02:27the federal data that tracks citizenship status. Another crucial element of the SAVE
02:33Act will provide states with cost-free access to existing federal and state
02:36databases so they can perform this important voter list maintenance. In recent
02:43years we've seen an increasing number of jurisdictions across the country
02:46allowing non-citizens to vote in municipal elections. Right here in our
02:52nation's capital non-citizens are eligible to vote in those municipal
02:55elections. In Washington DC a non-citizen only has to reside in the district for 30
03:00days in order to register to vote. 388 non-citizens cast ballots here in our
03:09nation's capital in Washington DC in the most recent election. By passing the SAVE
03:14Act we can ensure that only eligible Americans are registering to vote.
03:19Additionally the SAVE Act is lined with President Trump's recent executive order
03:23preserving and protecting the integrity of American elections which will help
03:27restore trust in American elections, enhance election administration, and make
03:32our elections secure. This legislation is just one step that we can take to
03:36ensure President Trump's executive order could not be undone. Americans deserve to
03:42have confidence in our elections. We must pass the SAVE Act to prevent
03:46non-citizen voting and secure our elections. Mr. Speaker I reserve the balance of my
03:51government reserves his time.