Durbin Files Amendments To SAVE America Act, Calls For Voter Protections

Durbin Files Amendments To SAVE America Act, Calls For Voter Protections

Durbin's amendments range from restoring the critical safeguards in the Voting Rights Act to reversing Republicans' $1 trillion cut to Medicaid that jeopardizes Americans' access to health care

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today announced that he filed 11 amendments to the Republicans' SAVE America Act, a bill that would disenfranchise millions of eligible voters by implementing extreme voter ID requirements that are designed to prevent Americans from exercising their fundamental right to vote. Durbin's amendments range from protecting voters' access to the ballot box and affirming the outcome of the 2020 election to reversing the $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts implemented by congressional Republicans and the Trump Administration through the so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Durbin also filed amendments to crack down on cryptocurrency scams, safeguard Americans' personal data, and prevent the Trump Administration from bankrolling Russia's war on Ukraine by lifting oil sanctions on Russia and Iran.

"Don't let the name of this bill fool you-the SAVE America Act would not protect our elections. Instead, it creates unnecessary hurdles that would disenfranchise millions of eligible voters," Durbin said. "So let's put it on the record. Will my Republican colleagues vote to restrict voting access, or will they stand up for Americans' right to vote, protect their personal data, and ensure consumers are treated fairly?"

Durbin's amendments filed include:

• Voting Rights Protections: This amendment would strike the SAVE America Act and replace it with Durbin's John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (VRAA). In a sharp contrast to Republicans' efforts to restrict voting access, this amendment would restore and strengthen the Voting Rights Act.

• Affirm the Outcome of the 2020 Election: This amendment would affirm the outcome of the 2020 election, expressing the sense of the Senate that President Joe Biden was duly elected despite MAGA Republicans and Trump Administration officials continuing to peddle the Big Lie.

• Prevent Poll Taxes: This amendment would prohibit the federal government from requiring voters to spend money on costly fees to meet strict, burdensome identification requirements in order to qualify to cast a ballot. The SAVE America Act would require Americans to prove their citizenship with documents like a birth certificate or passport. However, 146 million Americans do not have a passport, and in order to obtain one, Americans must pay a $165 fee-meaning that the bill would establish a modern day poll tax. This amendment would ensure that voters would not have to pay fees for documents that the federal government would require them to obtain to exercise their constitutional right to vote.

• Secure Voters' Private Information: This amendment would bar the federal government from accessing voters' personal private information contained in state voter rolls. The SAVE America Act would require states to submit their voter roll data to the DHS SAVE program to purge noncitizens from their voter rolls. However, this DHS program utilizes unreliable data, and as a result, this program could purge voter rolls of eligible voters. This amendment would also discourage the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) from requesting voting records as the Trump Administration officials leading the agency have sued 29 states and Washington, D.C. for not releasing these records to DOJ.

• No Taxpayer-Funded Bailout for Crypto: This amendment, based on Durbin's No Bailout for Crypto Act, would prevent taxpayer dollars from being used to bail out the crypto industry in the event of an economic crash or bankruptcy by restricting crypto companies' access to federal funds, emergency liquidity facilities, and any amounts in the Exchange Stabilization Fund.

• Protect Americans from Crypto Scams: This amendment, based on Durbin's Crypto ATM Fraud Prevention Act, would crack down on crypto fraudsters by requiring that crypto ATM operators provide clear warnings of scams; register ATM locations with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN); submit an anti-fraud policy to FinCEN; provide live customer support to crypto ATM users; and provide paper receipts for transactions. Crypto ATM operators would also be required to impose daily transaction limits and issue refunds to customers within 30 days of reporting the same to law enforcement. In 2025, the FBI reported that consumers lost more than $333 million in crypto ATM scams, a 35 percent increase from 2024.

• Bring Fairness to Airline Rewards Programs: This amendment, based on Durbin's Protect Your Points Act, would strengthen consumer protections by requiring greater transparency from airlines' frequent flyer, points, and loyalty programs. Airlines make more money on their rewards programs than they do from selling airline tickets. While these rewards programs are extremely profitable, reports show that airlines are devaluing points, requiring more points than initially marketed to achieve the promised rewards. This amendment would prohibit airlines from including provisions in their rewards program that allow them to make changes to the program at any time without giving notice to consumers and instead impose a one-year notice requirement. It also would require airlines to display the point to dollar conversion, allow consumers to pay for airfare and other services in any combination of points or dollars, and implement security protections for consumers' accounts. Further, it would prohibit airlines from allowing points to expire, charging fees to transfer points, and devaluing points once transferred.

• Prevent Trump Administration from Lifting Oil-Related Sanctions on Russia and Iran: This amendment expresses Congress' disapproval of the Trump Administration's consideration of lifting sanctions on Iranian or Russian oil or related vessels while Russia wages war on Ukraine or continues to refuse to constructively participate in U.S. brokered peace talks to end aggression toward Ukraine.

• Protect Americans' Data at the Social Security Administration (SSA): This amendment would direct the SSA Inspector General to investigate all the so-called Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) activities at SSA to understand the scope of unauthorized disclosure of Americans' personal data. In January, the Washington Post reported that DOGE employees signed a "voter data agreement" to share Americans' personal information housed at SSA with an unnamed political organization seeking to "overturn election results in certain states." The Washington Post also reported last week that a former DOGE employee downloaded two highly-restricted SSA databases that hold the records of more than 500 million Americans onto a thumb drive, with the intent to share it with their private sector employer. The best way to protect U.S. elections is to investigate DOGE's attempt to use Americans' personal information to steal elections-not establishing stricter voter requirements.

• Report Water and Energy Usage of Data Centers: This amendment would require data centers to report their energy and water uses to the states where they operate as Americans see their utility bills spike to record levels. In 2025, data center growth and Republican attacks on clean energy drove up the average Illinoisan's electric bill by 15 percent. The amendment would also direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to issue an annual report on the regional water and energy demands of data centers.

• Reverse Republican Cuts to Rural Health Care: This amendment would reverse the damaging $1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act enacted by the Republicans' so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act. As a result of the $1 trillion cut, rural communities are estimated to lose $137 billion in Medicaid funding. Because of these Republican cuts to health care, 309 rural hospitals across the country are at risk of closure. In addition to reversing the Medicaid cuts, Durbin's amendment would help stabilize and support rural hospitals by enabling more to qualify for Medicare's Critical Access Hospital status.

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