Today, Speaker Johnson, Congressman Chip Roy (TX), and Senator Mike Lee (UT) held a press conference to announce the introduction of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. Amid the worst border crisis in American history, the SAVE Act would ensure that only U.S. citizens vote in federal elections by requiring proof of citizenship to register.
“Some have noted that it’s already a crime for noncitizens to vote in a federal election, and that is true. But here are four things that are also true,” Speaker Johnson said. “(1) It is true that there is no mechanism to ensure only those registering or voting are actually citizens… (2) It is true that Biden has welcomed millions and millions of illegal aliens, including sophisticated criminal syndicates and agents of adversarial governments, into our borders and even on humanitarian parole… (3) It is true that a growing number of localities are blurring the lines for noncitizens by allowing them to vote in municipal elections… (4) It is true that Democrats have expressed a desire to turn non-citizens into voters.”
The event also featured remarks from:
Cleta Mitchell (FAIR Elections Fund and Election Integrity Network)
Jenny Beth Martin (Tea Party Patriots Action)
Stephen Miller (America First Legal)
Ken Cuccinelli (Election Transparency Initiative)
Rosemary Jenks (Immigration Accountability Project)
Andy Roth (State Freedom Caucus Network)
Hogan Gidley (America First Policy Institute)
Below is the transcript of Speaker Johnson’s remarks
We are we are here this morning for a very important reason, as you all know, because there is currently an unprecedented and a clear and present danger to the integrity of our election system. And that is the threat of non-citizens and illegal aliens voting in our elections. In last five and a half months or so, I’ve been to over 101 cities doing events all around the country in more than half the states. The first or second question that I’m asked in every public forum is about election security. Americans are deeply concerned about this. And it doesn’t matter where you live or whether you’re in a blue state or a red state, everyone’s concerned.
And due to the wide-open border that the Biden administration has refused to close – in fact that they engineered to open – we now have so many non-citizens in the country that if only one out of 100 of those voted, they would cast hundreds of thousands of votes. And since our elections are so razor thin in these days that we’re in, just a few precincts in a few states decide the makeup of Congress and who is elected to the White House. This is a dangerously high number, and it’s a great concern to millions and millions of Americans. It could obviously change the outcome of our elections, and this is not an empty threat or concern.
I’ll let my colleague Chip Roy here in a moment get into the specifics of the SAVE Act, but I want to address why we need this legislation. Some have noted that it’s already a crime for non-citizens to vote in a federal election and that is true. But here are four things that are also true. Number one, it’s true that no current mechanism to ensure only those registering or voting are actually citizens. There’s no mechanism that exist to make sure that that’s correct. If a nefarious actor wants to intervene in our elections, all they have to do is check a box on a form and sign their name. That’s it. That’s all that’s required. And there’s a very small chance that illegal would get caught. Because here’s the other thing: our states do not have the election infrastructure in place to confirm what they’ve said. Number two. It’s true that Joe Biden has welcomed millions and millions of illegal aliens. We think the number I believe the number is close to probably at this point 16 million illegals who have come into this country since Joe Biden walked into the Oval Office. That includes sophisticated criminal syndicates and agents of adversarial governments, here in our borders and even on humanitarian parole.
And that means the millions that had been paroled can simply go to their local welfare office or the DMV and register to vote there. And please understand this, states are currently prohibited from asking someone to prove that they’re a citizen when they use the federal voter registration form. Third truth it is also true that a growing number of localities are blurring the lines for non-citizens by allowing them to vote in municipal local elections. In cities and towns in California and Maryland, Vermont, and even right here in DC. You might not know this, but non-citizens are voting. Number four: it’s true that Democrats have expressed a desire to turn on citizens and voters. That’s what this open border has been all about.
Former Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler admitted that to me, expressly stated to me in a committee hearing in a in a video that’s gone viral, just last year, a year and a half ago. Stacey Abrams said it in 2018 on the campaign trail. In their rare moments of candor, they will tell you the truth that this is something they are for. Two months ago, every Senate Democrat voted to count illegal aliens in the census to help them shore up more seats in Congress and more votes in the Electoral College. And this week, House Democrats will also have an opportunity to go on record on the same issue.
In recent days, we’ve seen a growing number of folks on student visas show their willingness to break the law and utterly disrupt our way of life and threatened law-abiding students who are actually American citizens. If they’re willing to take over buildings and physically terrorize their fellow students, why would they not be willing to lie on a voter registration form?
It’s clear that our election process is worth protecting. It is our responsibility as members of Congress and concerned leaders of citizens groups and organizations who care about the integrity of our system and our elections. It is our duty to ensure that this is done. Even if you weren’t concerned about the drop boxes and the ballot harvesting and the mail in ballots and 2020, you definitely should be concerned that illegal aliens might be voting in 2024. And that’s why it is critical that we pass the SAVE act to safeguard our federal elections and ensure that only Americans get to decide American elections.