With the August recess coming to an end, the House and Senate will soon reconvene to focus on passing spending bills for Fiscal Year 2025. While funding the government is vital, I believe preserving the integrity of our elections is the most pressing issue before Congress. It is imperative that we attach the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act to the upcoming continuing resolution (CR) before Americans cast their ballots this fall.
I am glad to see that Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) intends to include the SAVE Act in the House version of the CR—an excellent decision. I’m calling on the Senate to follow Speaker Johnson’s lead to assure the American people that their voices will be heard this November.
The SAVE Act, introduced by Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Representative Chip Roy (R-Tex.), requires people residing within our country to present proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. It’s a straightforward proposition: If you are not a U.S. citizen, then you cannot vote in our nation’s elections. I am a proud cosponsor of this bill, along with 22 of my Senate colleagues.
This legislation would require states to regularly take steps to ensure only U.S. citizens vote in our elections. Additionally, it would compel states to remove foreign nationals from federal voter lists, create a right of action to sue government officials who intentionally register foreign nationals, establish criminal penalties for officials who register foreign nationals, and require the Federal Election Commission to create guidelines to help state officials implement the SAVE Act’s requirements.
It’s a common-sense piece of legislation that would strengthen the integrity of our federal elections. Now, more than ever, it’s critical that Congress pass the SAVE Act along with the CR. The inclusion of this bill will help preserve the country our Founders fought so hard to establish. Without it, America as we know it may not survive.
Unsurprisingly, some Democrats and their media allies have attacked this common-sense legislation, claiming that it is already illegal for noncitizens to vote. While foreign nationals are technically prohibited from voting, no mechanism currently exists to effectively enforce that law. Unlike Speaker Johnson, I’m not an accomplished constitutional attorney. But I do know that you might as well not have laws if you don’t enforce them.
Voting booths are seen at Glass Elementary School’s polling station in Eagle Pass, Texas, on November 8, 2022.
Mark Felix/AFP/Getty Images
The SAVE Act would solve this problem. Senate leadership knows the legislation would restore the integrity of our elections. They should push back against its critics, just like Speaker Johnson has.
Senate leadership also knows that the Biden-Harris administration has opened our borders to more than 10 million illegal aliens over the last three and half years. Regardless of their motivations for being here, not one foreign national should be able to vote in our federal elections. That right is reserved solely for U.S. citizens.
I appreciate the complexities of negotiating these spending bills. No one ever gets exactly what they want out of budget discussions. But this issue is simple: protect our democracy by ensuring that Americans, not foreign nationals, democratically decide what direction our country should go.
If Senate leadership truly believes our democracy is sacred, and that the SAVE Act is redundant because it’s already illegal for undocumented immigrants to cast a ballot in federal elections, then passing a CR with the SAVE Act included shouldn’t be an issue. If it is a problem for Democrats, they should explain to the American people what the hang-up is.
The most consequential election in our lifetime is quickly approaching. And it is arguably one of the most important elections in the history of our country. The people of this country are hurting. Now is not the time to allow our fellow citizens to question whether their voices will be heard at the polls, regardless of which party they belong to.
The SAVE Act passed the House on a bipartisan basis on July 10. I ask that Senate leadership follow Speaker Johnson’s lead and renew its commitment to the American people. Secure our elections by agreeing to include the SAVE Act in the next government funding bill. The hour is late, and the time is near. The future of our republic hangs in the balance.
Tommy Tuberville is the senior U.S. senator from Alabama.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
