[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 17, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Page S1066]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          LEGISLATIVE SESSION

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the motion.
  The motion was agreed to.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.


                            SAVE America Act

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, if MAGA Republicans want to bog down the 
Senate over a debate on voter suppression, Democrats are ready. We are 
ready to be here all day, all night--as long as it takes--to ensure the 
powers of voter suppression do not win the day.
  Let me be very clear: The SAVE Act is not a voter ID bill. It is, in 
every sense, a voter suppression bill. It could purge millions of 
American citizens from the voter rolls through a screening algorithm 
designed by Elon Musk's DOGE squad. It could disenfranchise over 20 
million American citizens. It would kill online voter registration. It 
would kill vote-by-mail. It would kill voter motor registration.
  What does any of that have to do with election security? It doesn't. 
It is a naked attempt to rig our elections.
  The SAVE Act also rejects the most common forms of ID for anyone 
trying to register.
  The way this works is that you don't have to be notified if you are 
kicked off the rolls. You show up on election day. They say: We are 
sorry, Mr. Smith or Ms. Jones. You are not on the rolls anymore.
  Then they make it impossible to reregister. Certainly, on that day, 
you would lose your right to vote.
  Driver's licenses are no longer enough. The most common ID forms for 
anyone to register are rejected in the SAVE Act for the first time in 
just about every State. Not even military IDs would be enough.
  Can you believe that? That would be radical. It would force Americans 
to register only in person--something only 5 percent of Americans do 
today.
  It punishes married women who change their last names.
  The SAVE Act is not about protecting the vote. It is about making it 
harder to vote and easier to steal an election.
  We know what the deal is here. Donald Trump said, if Republicans pass 
the SAVE Act, it will guarantee his midterm. The senior Senator from 
Utah said Republicans will lose power, likely for a long time, if they 
don't get the SAVE Act passed.
  That is the whole game. It is cynical. It is beneath the Senate. It 
is beneath democracy.
  Senate Democrats will never let this rotten bill move through this 
body.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.

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