[Pages H1380-H1381]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 GOP CREATING CHAOS IN ELECTORAL SYSTEM

  (Mrs. Trahan of Massachusetts was recognized to address the House for 
5 minutes.)
  Mrs. TRAHAN. Madam Speaker, we are witnessing yet another shameful

[[Page H1381]]

attack on the fundamental rights of millions of Americans.
  House Republicans are forcing a vote this week on the so-called SAVE 
Act, a bill that does nothing to stop inflation from driving up grocery 
prices, nothing to end Donald Trump's trade war that is pummeling the 
stock market, and nothing to protect Americans' retirements. Instead, 
this is a messaging bill, sloppily written and dangerously flawed, 
designed to create confusion and chaos in our electoral system rather 
than strengthen it.
  The SAVE Act claims to prevent noncitizens from voting in Federal 
elections. At first glance, that may seem logical, if not for the fact 
that it is already illegal and has been for decades. Noncitizens caught 
voting in Federal elections already face deportation and even jail 
time.
  Time and again, when pressed for evidence of widespread noncitizen 
voting, Republicans have failed to produce a single credible example. 
The reason? Because the problem they claim to be solving simply doesn't 
exist.
  Why are we here today? Why are we debating a bill that addresses a 
nonexistent problem while hardworking American families are struggling 
with rising costs and economic insecurity? Because Republicans in 
Congress don't have real solutions. Rather than addressing the issues 
that matter, like lowering grocery costs and helping families get 
ahead, they are prioritizing a bill that disenfranchises millions of 
American women.
  Roughly 69 million women, about 25 percent of eligible voters in our 
country, have IDs that do not match their birth certificates, usually 
because they changed their name once they got married. Under this bill, 
if they don't have a passport--and half of Americans don't--they 
wouldn't be able to register to vote.
  Think about that: Tens of millions of women, the backbone of our 
families and our communities, stripped of their right to vote simply 
because they got married.
  Imagine a woman who has voted in every election since she turned 18, 
who pays her taxes, who contributes to her community. One day, she 
learns that because her name changed when she got married, she is 
suddenly unable to register to vote in her State.
  No amount of documentation, no Social Security card, no marriage 
license, no previous voter registration will satisfy the requirements 
of this bill unless she possesses an updated passport or a birth 
certificate that matches her current name.
  This isn't just bureaucratic nonsense. It is an outrageous attack on 
the rights of women across our country.
  The worst part, Madam Speaker, is that Republicans have known that 
this was an issue with this bill for years, and they have done nothing 
to fix it. They either don't care that millions of American women will 
be stripped of their right to vote or that has been their goal all 
along. Either way, this is going to create chaos in every State in 
America, and it is going to make it harder for Americans to participate 
in their democracy.
  It appears to be the latest in a long series of tactics, like polling 
place closures and gerrymandering, designed to silence voters that 
Republican politicians don't think they can win.
  That is not how democracy works. You don't get to silence millions of 
Americans just because they might not like your policies. You represent 
them, too.
  Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject this dangerous 
legislation and protect the rights of every eligible voter in the 
country because our democracy is strongest when every voice is heard 
and every vote is counted.

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