[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 17, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S1063]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            SAVE America Act

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, this afternoon, Republicans will move to 
bring a pernicious, radical bill before the Senate, the so-called SAVE 
America Act. At a moment when war is consuming the Middle East, when 
costs are rising, when ICE agents are terrorizing our communities, and 
when job growth in America is weakening, MAGA Republicans have chosen 
to focus on voter suppression.
  We all know why Donald Trump wants this bill. He is afraid 
Republicans will lose in November. Trump says: Pass the SAVE Act, and 
it will ``guarantee the midterms.'' Imagine manipulating the electoral 
process to try to make himself the winner when he thinks he is going to 
lose--not surprising, I suppose, from Donald Trump.
  The senior Senator from Utah says:

       Republicans will lose power--likely for a long time--if we 
     don't get SAVE America passed.

  It is funny. I don't remember MAGA Republicans screaming about stolen 
elections and voter fraud after the 2024 election that they won. Well, 
the same rules that governed the 2024 election are going to be the ones 
that govern the 2026 election. The only difference is that this time, 
MAGA Republicans know they are in trouble politically, so now they are 
suddenly saying that the system is compromised and broken and that it 
needs to be changed.
  It is all lies--all lies. And they want to drag down the entire 
Senate for who knows how long in a vain attempt to pass this bill.
  Let's be clear. Senate Democrats will never allow the SAVE Act to 
pass this Chamber. If a small band of MAGA Senators wants to drag this 
out on the Senate floor, keep us here through the night, through days, 
or longer, while stalling all other important business, they can try. 
It will not work.
  MAGA Republicans, Senate Democrats will hold the line as long as 
necessary because with this bill, democracy is at stake.
  I want to be very clear. The SAVE Act is not about voter 
identification; it is about voter suppression. Under the SAVE Act, 
every single State would be required to share its voter rolls with the 
Department of Homeland Security--something even many Republican States 
do not want to do.
  Those rolls would be reviewed by a system designed by none other than 
Elon Musk and his DOGE, using an algorithm that has already been shown 
to be deeply flawed.
  Millions would be kicked off the rolls for no reason. This means 
American citizens--many, millions--would be booted off the rolls 
wrongly. If you are kicked off the rolls, you may never be told. There 
is no requirement to let you know. Then when you show up on election 
day ready to vote and a poll worker tells you ``Sorry, you are not 
registered; you are not in the system,'' what do you do? You can't 
reregister that day, especially with the onerous requirements for 
registration in the SAVE Act.
  As I said, it is not just as simple as reregistering. Under the bill, 
Americans would have to run through an obstacle course of redtape 
unlike anything we have ever seen in voter registration. A driver's 
license would no longer be enough. A military ID would no longer be 
enough. You would need something like a passport, which most Americans 
do not have, or a birth certificate, which many Americans cannot easily 
find. If you cannot produce these documents, you could be out of luck, 
even if you are an American citizen with every right to vote. That is 
almost certainly the majority--the vast majority--of who would be 
thrown off the rolls.
  Meanwhile, say goodbye to some of the safest, most convenient, and 
most effective ways to register to vote. No more registering online. No 
more registering in churches. No more registering at college campuses. 
No more registering at the DMV. No more registering by mail. No more 
vote-by-mail. Many red States love vote-by-mail. Yet MAGA radicals want 
to eliminate it almost entirely.
  I ask my Republican colleagues: How does it protect our elections to 
stop people from registering at church or at the DMV? How does it make 
our democracy safer to tell seniors, people with disabilities, or 
working Americans they cannot register online and must find their way 
to an election office, which is something only a fraction of Americans 
do today--5.9 percent, to be more precise. How does getting rid of 
vote-by-mail--something red States do, something blue States do--
strengthen democracy? The answer is, it does not.
  The SAVE Act is not about election integrity; it is about voter 
suppression, plain and simple. MAGA Republicans would rather take 
democracy down than back away from their own rightwing, extreme 
policies that have killed jobs, started wars, and exploited working 
people to benefit the ultrarich. Senate Democrats will not let them 
succeed.
  I tell my Republican colleagues: Hear me--we will hold the line for 
as long as it takes.