[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 67 (Thursday, April 17, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E319]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                SAFEGUARD AMERICAN VOTER ELIGIBILITY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. BETTY McCOLLUM

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 10, 2025

  Ms. McCOLLUM. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 22, the 
Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, or the SAVE Act, which does 
nothing to protect voting rights.
  House Republicans are advancing a bill that would disenfranchise 
millions of women and other Americans through a federal takeover of 
state election administration that makes it harder to vote. Sixty-nine 
million American women--one out of four Americans would face an 
additional burden to register to vote simply because they changed their 
last name after marriage. Simply put, this Republican bill is about 
voter suppression.
  In 2012, Minnesotans rightly rejected a state constitutional 
amendment that would have imposed voter ID requirements. Each election, 
Minnesotans turn out at the highest levels in the nation to participate 
in elections that are free, fair, and secure.
  Under the guise of election integrity, the Republicans' H.R. 22 would 
require Minnesotans and every American to provide burdensome 
``documentary proof of citizenship''--similar to what Minnesotans 
already rejected--in order to participate in federal elections. 
Standard REAL IDs, Tribal IDs and military IDs alone do not meet this 
bill's extreme criteria. Married women or others whose name doesn't 
match their birth certificate would be required to present a passport 
with their current name to prove their identity and citizenship. In 
states like Minnesota with same-day registration, all new registrants, 
and those updating their registration as the result of a move or a name 
change, would be mandated to present their birth certificate and 
matching ID or a passport at the polls in order to vote.
  Nearly half of Minnesotans don't have a passport, meaning millions of 
voters would need to obtain one. Collectively, Minnesotans could be 
forced to spend over $320 million dollars, with passport applications 
costing more than $130 each and taking weeks for processing. 
Republicans have essentially mandated a poll tax to access the 
fundamental right to vote.
  Congress should be following Minnesota's lead and working to make it 
easier for Americans to vote, not putting up roadblocks. Congress 
should pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act that would 
reinstate many of the protections in the Civil Rights Act of 1965 that 
were undercut by the Supreme Court in their Shelby County v. Holder 
decision in 2013. The bill would expand automatic voter registration 
and allows for same day voter registration and protects against race-
based discrimination at the ballot box. The John Lewis Voting Rights 
Advancement Act passed the House in 2021, but House Republicans have 
continued to refuse to bring the bill to the House Floor for a vote.
  Again, I oppose H.R. 22, the Republican SAVE Act, and I urge my 
colleagues to join me in voting NO.

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