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Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. 311, H.R. 7147.

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, we are on day 40 of Democrats' shutdown of Department of Homeland Security--day 40. And that is on top of Democrats' recordbreaking 43-day full-government shutdown in the fall.

Altogether, thanks to Senate Democrats, a lot of DHS employees have been working without pay for more than 80 days so far this fiscal year.

That is shameful. It is no wonder TSA agents are quitting in droves-- anyone would be if they had been working without pay for almost 50 percent of the fiscal year so far.

My Democrat colleagues, of course, are working with pay, having rejected a Republican proposal to stop Senators' pay while DHS continues to be shut down. I am hoping that Democrats can at least envision what it is like for stressed-out Homeland Security workers wondering if they will be able to pay their rent, and I hope they will recognize the situation can't continue.

Homeland Security workers are hurting; travelers are beyond fed up with the disastrous situation at U.S. airports; and we cannot continue to keep this critical Department unfunded. Democrats have a proposal before them with legislative text--the latest serious offer from Republicans to get this Department back up and running.

Democrats have repeatedly said that they want to pay TSA, Coast Guard, FEMA, and employees who defend America from cyber attacks. This bill would do it. I hope Democrats will work with us to finalize an agreement and reopen the Department of Homeland Security this week. SAVE America ACT

Mr. President, since we began debate on the SAVE America Act, my Democrat colleagues have spent a lot of time hedging. And that has been particularly evident on the issue of voter ID--something that Democrats have spent years decrying as a tool of voter suppression but are now suggesting they somehow support.

Democrats can read the polls as well as any of us, and I suspect that Democrats are not eager to be seen as on the 20-percent side of an 80- 20 issue, so they are trying to have their cake and eat it too.

So the Democrat leader is out there claiming Democrat support for voter ID--as long, of course, as he doesn't have to vote for any ID proposal that we actually put forward.

On Thursday, the junior Republican Senator from Ohio offered an eminently reasonable voter ID proposal. All that it would have done is require a photo ID for voters when they go to the polls--a driver's license, military ID, Tribal ID, passport--the types of IDs that are sitting in wallets right now that the American people use on a regular basis.

Democrats said: No, we don't like that. And so they blocked it.

And more than blocked it. The junior Senator from Oregon offered an alternative bill that would have actually banned voter ID for absentee ballots.

And then yesterday--yesterday--Democrats said the quiet part out loud. The Democrat leader came down to the floor and made it clear when Democrats say they support voter ID, they mean that they support voter ID just as long as the ID requirements in question are meaningless.

That is right. The Democrat leader brought up a bill Democrats introduced a few years that included a voter ID requirement--well, sort of.

Let me read a few of the IDs that the Democrats' bill would have accepted: A debit card, a lease or mortgage document, a utility bill, any document containing the individual's name--name, not photo--issued by a government, or a photocopy of any one of the above.

Now, sure, Mr. President, some of these things are accepted or requested as adjunct documents when you are trying to get something like a driver's license or a library card--along with, you know, things like photo ID or a birth certificate. But just showing a utility bill to prove your identity? Give me a break.

If someone asked you for an ID in any other circumstance, are you going to pull out your electric bill? Can you get into a bar by showing your lease? Can you prove eligibility to work at your new job by pulling out the water bill? No, you cannot. Now, I would like to see someone try to get on a plane by presenting a photocopy of their debit card.

When Republicans say voter ID, we mean an actual ID with a picture issued by a government. The kind of ID that is required for a whole bunch of things in our daily lives--starting a new job, driving a car, doing an early pickup at school, opening a bank account, getting a library card.

The Democrat leader suggested that photo IDs are somehow out of reach for voters--that they need ``inclusive'' voter ID options. How does the Democratic leader think Americans are navigating all of the scenarios I just mentioned? Well, I will tell him: With their photo IDs. And yet, it is somehow an intolerable burden to ask Americans to bring those IDs with them to the polls.

Give me a break. Requiring a photo ID isn't onerous. It is common sense, and the American people agree. Poll after poll shows that Americans of both parties strongly support requiring a photo ID at the polls. And just to reassure my Democrat friends, a 2019 study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research found:

[S]trict ID laws have no significant negative effect on registration or turnout, overall or for any subgroup defined by age, gender, race, or party affiliation.

Democrats are going to have another chance tomorrow to support election integrity by implementing a commonsense photo ID requirement. Will they stand with Americans, or will they continue to oppose any meaningful ID requirement at the polls?

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