SAFEGUARD AMERICAN VOTER ELIGIBILITY ACT

SAFEGUARD AMERICAN VOTER ELIGIBILITY ACT

Congressional Record, Volume 172 Issue 48 (Tuesday, March 17, 2026) [Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 17, 2026)] [Senate] [Pages S1066-S1088] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [ www.gpo.gov ] SAFEGUARD AMERICAN VOTER ELIGIBILITY ACT The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair lays before the Senate the following message from the House. The Presiding Officer laid before the Senate the following message from the House of Representatives: Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 1383) entitled ``An Act to establish the Veterans Advisory Committee on Equal Access, and for other purposes.'', do pass with an amendment. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader. [[Page S1067]] Motion to Concur Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I move to concur in the House amendment to S. 1383. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The legislative clerk read as follows: The Senator from South Dakota [Mr. Thune] moves to concur in the House amendment to S. 1383. Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask the reading be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Motion to Concur with Amendment No. 4420 (Purpose: In the nature of a substitute.) Mr. THUNE. I move to concur in the House amendment with an amendment. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The legislative clerk read as follows: The Senator from South Dakota [Mr. Thune] moves to concur in the House amendment with an amendment numbered 4420. Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask the reading be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. (The amendment is printed in today's Record under ``Text of Amendments.'') Mr. THUNE. I ask for the yeas and nays on the motion. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. The yeas and nays are ordered. Amendment No. 4421 to Amendment No. 4420 Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I have an amendment at the desk to the motion to concur with amendment. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The legislative clerk read as follows: The Senator from South Dakota [Mr. Thune], for Mr. Tuberville and Mrs. Blackburn, proposes an amendment numbered 4421 to amendment No. 4420. Mr. THUNE. I ask the reading be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The amendment is as follows: (Purpose: To protect women and girls in athletics) Strike title II and insert the following: TITLE II--SAVE AMERICAN SPORTS SEC. 201. AMENDMENT. Section 901 of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``(d)(1) It shall be a violation of subsection (a) for a recipient of Federal funds who operates, sponsors, or facilitates athletic programs or activities to permit a person whose sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls. ``(2) For purposes of this subsection, sex shall be recognized based solely on a person's reproductive biology and genetics at birth.''. SEC. 202. DATE. This title takes effect 1 day after the date of enactment of this Act. Motion to Refer with Amendment No. 4422 Mr. THUNE. I move to refer the House message on S. 1383 to the Committee on Rules and Administration with instructions to report back forthwith with amendment No. 4422. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The legislative clerk read as follows: The Senator from South Dakota [Mr. Thune] moves to refer the House message to accompany S. 1383 to the Committee on Rules and Administration, with instructions to report back forthwith an amendment numbered 4422. The amendment is as follows: (Purpose: To improve the bill) At the end add the following. ``This Act shall take effect 1 days after the date of enactment.'' Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on my motion. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. The yeas and nays are ordered. Amendment No. 4423 Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I have an amendment to the instructions. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The legislative clerk read as follows: The Senator from South Dakota [Mr. Thune] proposes an amendment numbered 4423 to the instructions of the motion to refer. Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask the reading be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The amendment is as follows: (Purpose: To improve the bill) Strike ``1 day'' and insert ``2 days'' Mr. THUNE. I ask for the yeas and nays on my amendment. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. The yeas and nays are ordered. Amendment No. 4424 to Amendment No. 4423 Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I have a second-degree amendment at the desk. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The legislative clerk read as follows: The Senator from South Dakota [Mr. Thune] proposes an amendment numbered 4424 to amendment No. 4423. Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask that the reading be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The amendment is as follows: (Purpose: To improve the bill) Strike ``2 days'' and insert ``3 days'' The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas. Mr. MARSHALL. Mr. President, I rise today to say I support the SAVE America Act. And, yes, even if that means ending the only barely more than 100-year-old filibuster, the silent filibuster, I am still in favor of the SAVE America Act. As we just voted to get on this bill, the Senate now begins a long and necessary process to advance the SAVE America Act. It is a straightforward bill that provides proof of citizenship to register to vote in our Federal elections, along with voter ID, and validating mail-in ballots. The purpose of this bill is about one simple thing: making sure only duly registered American citizens cast ballots in American elections. It is about making sure our elections are secure. Now, this shouldn't be controversial. Voter ID is supported by the vast majority of Americans--Republicans, Independents, and Democrats alike. Polls show that even around 70 percent of Democrats believe voter ID is common sense and essential for fair elections. It is something most of us do every day. Show an ID to board a plane, to open a bank account, to buy alcohol, to get a hotel room, to purchase some prescriptions. Why should voting, the most sacred act in a Republic, be the only place where we don't ask for basic proof that you are eligible, that you are who you say you are? Yet here we are, instead of passing this with overwhelming bipartisan support, maybe even by unanimous consent, we are forced into a drawn- out battle because no one on the other side will join us. I thought a lot about this. You know what the real question should be? The real question that America should be asking their Senator: Why won't just 10 Democrat Senators cross the aisle and support simple voter ID? We shouldn't be having to have filibustering debates or a thousand other rabbit holes we are about to go down. I would challenge those who, as Mark Twain once said, those who ``buy ink by the barrel,'' to ask my colleagues across the aisle: Why won't you support voter ID? Now, my colleagues across the aisle, they are clever. They won't answer that question. They won't answer the simple question: Do you support voter ID? They won't commit to that one issue. Instead, they are going to pivot, and they will tell you what other part of the bill they don't like. They will want to dive into Parliamentarian procedures and Senate lore and traditions, but they won't answer that one simple question: Do you support voter ID, just like 70 percent of your Democrat supporters do? And if we can start there, if we start there that we both agree that we need voter ID, agreeing on that one issue, then maybe we could piece together a compromise on the rest of the bill. But when you reject even something as simple as voter ID, we should continue to ask them: Why won't you stand with the American people who want secure elections? Why won't you stand up and listen to the over 60 percent of Americans who are concerned about the integrity of our elections? Now, we all know that noncitizens aren't supposed to vote. It is already illegal. But without proof of citizenship [[Page S1068]] at registration, we have no real safeguard. I could even hear President Reagan now, if he were here, talking to the American people: Trust but verify. And that is what we want to do. That is what the SAVE America Act is all about. It fixes all these challenges. It requires documents like a passport, a birth certificate with ID, documents millions of Americans already have or can easily obtain. It protects our elections without disenfranchising a single eligible citizen. Now, oh, by the way, to my colleagues across the aisle, if you have a concern or a better way to make our elections more secure and more fair let's move forward, and if that encourages and empowers every legal citizen the opportunity to vote, then I am with you. Let's work together to make our elections safe and secure. This isn't, to me at least, about politics; it is about principles. It is about fighting for the American people who deserve elections they can trust. It is about making sure that my vote counts and isn't canceled by an illegal vote. Our Republic depends on it. When the people lose faith that their vote counts and only citizens decide our future, we risk everything our Founders built. I will wrap up by saying: I urge my colleagues across the aisle, listen to your constituents, listen to the 70 percent of Democrats who support voter ID. Come across the aisle. Let us pass the SAVE America Act quickly and get back to the people's business. The American people are watching. They want secure elections. They want us to protect this Republic. Let's show them we can still work together on something so basic and so important. I yield the floor. Th

Referenced legislation: S1383, S1383