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Floor Speech

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Mrs. MOODY. Mr. President, I rise today in support of what should be a given. It is already law, common sense--a bill that supports this country and our citizens.

I rise today to, in fact, speak on behalf of American citizens and in support of the rule of law, and I rise to say that we have to pass without delay the SAVE America Act. This would require ID to vote.

This is something where the vast majority of Americans agree-- Democrats, Independents, and Republicans. The vast majority agree this should become law. According to the Pew Research Center, that is about 83 percent of Americans that are in support of ID to vote. Breaking that down into groups, 76 percent of Black Americans support this idea, and 82 percent of Hispanic Americans support this idea. These are all groups that the Democrats claim this measure would harm.

So my Democratic colleagues--coming up with excuse after excuse after excuse, which I suspect is just distraction from why they are really opposing this--my Democratic colleagues continue to block this reform, and they place partisan politics above the clear will of the American people.

The United States of America, which will celebrate its 250th anniversary this year--indeed, this great American experiment--hinges on the sanctity and integrity of our elections. We must protect this institution and safeguard our democracy by ensuring that only Americans are allowed to participate in American elections.

This just makes sense. If you need a valid ID to drive, to buy alcohol, to check into a hotel, why would you not need an ID to vote? In fact, even the mayor of NYC is now requiring people to provide IDs to take part in their snow-shoveling program. Yet they say it is unreasonable to expect Americans to provide one at the ballot box.

Retaining election integrity should not be a partisan issue; it is foundational to our self-government. The SAVE America Act upholds the rule of law. It makes sure there are stronger protections in place across the country to ensure that only citizens can participate in our elections.

When voters trust the system, participation increases. Secure elections will strengthen democracy. Ben Franklin famously replied to a bystander after the Constitutional Convention that we have a Republic if we can keep it. We must preserve our elections to preserve our Republic, and that is why it is so important that we pass the SAVE America Act.
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