[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 17, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S1065]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            SAVE America Act

  Mr. BANKS. Mr. President, there are some things in the world that are 
so obvious that there is really no use in debating them. There are 
things in this world that really ``go without saying,'' and voter ID 
laws are one of those things.
  Voter ID laws are so obvious, they are so commonsense, that it is 
shocking that we are even having a debate on the floor of the U.S. 
Senate this week about it. It is hard to see that there are even two 
sides to this issue, unless, of course, you believe that it really is 
OK for illegal immigrants to vote in our elections.
  But how is that even a debate? The Constitution is very clear that 
only citizens of the United States of America are eligible to vote in 
our elections. So that debate is already settled.
  Indiana already has voter ID laws. Hoosiers have to show an ID when 
they show up to vote on election day, and they have to prove that they 
are who they say they are when they register to vote in the first 
place.
  But it is not fair to Hoosiers when other States don't require voter 
ID. It is not fair to law-abiding Americans throughout the country 
because, when we allow noncitizens to vote in our Federal elections, we 
dilute the power of the American voter, and that should never be 
allowed to happen in the United States of America. American elections 
are for Americans, period.
  Even with voter ID laws, there are still illegals who show up and try 
to vote. In fact, our Secretary of State in Indiana Diego Morales just 
audited our voter rolls in our State to find every noncitizen that 
voted in our elections to clean up the process and he actually found 
some, and the Secretary of State and our Attorney General Todd Rokita 
are prosecuting those voters who voted illegally.
  So it is obvious that even in the State of Indiana, where we take 
election integrity very seriously, that we need to do more to protect 
our elections, and the SAVE America Act goes a long way to doing that.
  It is also obvious that we need to pass the SAVE America Act for very 
practical reasons, to have voter ID nationwide in Federal elections.
  Under Joe Biden, illegal immigrants invaded and flooded into our 
country, tens of millions of them. Joe Biden and the Democrats allowed 
this invasion to happen. Democrats defended the flood of illegal 
immigrants into this country on this floor, and that is why they are so 
bothered today by the SAVE America Act, a simple bill that is common 
sense to protect the integrity of our elections.
  Voter ID laws are the only way that we can prevent tens of millions 
of illegals from voting in our elections.
  America is about to turn 250 years old. There is so much that we have 
to celebrate in this great country, the greatest country in the history 
of the world. But it is crazy to think that we are gearing up for this 
epic birthday by debating voter ID laws.
  The SAVE America Act is common sense. Voter ID is common sense. We 
have an opportunity this week to pass maybe the most commonsense bill 
ever passed by the U.S. Senate to protect our elections. I hope we do 
that. I hope we pass the SAVE America Act now. It is fundamental. I beg 
my colleagues to join me in supporting it this week.
  I yield the floor.