ICYMI: Lankford Leads Senate Republicans on Floor to Pass SAVE America Act, Ensure Only American Citizens Vote

WASHINGTON, DC - US Senator James Lankford (R-OK), Senate Republican Conference Vice Chair, led his colleagues on the Senate floor in support of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, legislation to strengthen voter registration requirements by ensuring only US citizens are registered to vote and requiring states to verify citizenship. Senate Republicans will continue highlighting the importance of this legislation throughout the week and will reinforce a simple principle: trust, but verify. Americans deserve confidence that only US citizens are voting in our elections, and this bill delivers that verification.

"Listen, we have a very simple, straightforward proposition. It's called the SAVE America Act. Two most basic features of this SAVE America Act should not be controversial. They're simple and straightforward. We're to verify you're an American citizen. It's already federal law. Already right now that you have to be an American citizen. We just don't verify it at all. So this is the trust and verify portion of the bill. We trust you that you're an American citizen," said Lankford on the floor. "How about we just check? So you have to show that you're an American citizen to be able to register to vote. And the second part of it is you have to have ID to be able to vote. Again, we've done this in Oklahoma for years. This can be done and should be done, and it just shouldn't be that controversial."

Joining Lankford on the floor were Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Rick Scott (R-FL), and Eric Schmitt (R-MO).

Background

Lankford has remained a vocal supporter of both the SAVE America Act as a cosponsor and of its predecessor, S. 128, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would set requirements for states to verify and outline acceptable documentation for proving US citizenship, requiring states to set up alternative processes for citizens without standard documents. Additionally, the bill compels states to purge non-citizens from voter rolls and establishes federal penalties for intentionally registering non-citizens.

Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution states that elections are governed by state law, allowing state legislatures to prescribe the time, place, and manner of elections held within their states. However, it is also federal law that no one can vote in an American election that is not a citizen of the United States.

You can view Lankford's floor speech HERE. You can download it HERE.

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