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Rep. Roy: Time for GOP to 'Put Up or Shut Up' on SAVE Act

By Mark Swanson | Tuesday, 03 September 2024 10:58 PM EDT

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said it's time to ramp up the pressure on the Senate "uniparty" by attaching the SAVE Act to the Sept. 30 funding deadline to ensure that only American citizens vote in November's election.

Roy made his case in a guest column published Tuesday by Breitbart, saying it's "time for Republicans to put up or shut up" on passing the SAVE Act, a bill he sponsored that would ensure that illegal immigrants are not allowed to vote Nov. 5.

"Democrats – and too many Republicans – also fear the prospect of a future Trump administration," Roy wrote. "That is why the uniparty wants a lame-duck session because it provides the opportunity to hamstring the next administration."

House Republicans passed H.R. 8281 in July in a 221-198 vote, with five Democrats joining the majority. Roy wrote the legislation would require "states to check citizenship before registering an individual to vote and gives states tools to identify and remove non-citizens that are already registered."

Although Roy said he's "no fan" of continuing resolutions on funding the federal government, he's also realistic: "[W]e simply will not pass the seven remaining appropriations bills and then negotiate with the Senate, which hasn't passed a single appropriations measure for fiscal year 2025, before September 30," he wrote.

"Instead of giving Democrats and big-spending Republicans exactly what they want, we should demand that we avoid a lame-duck spending Christmas tree," he wrote. "We should force Democrats to explain their opposition to common sense proof of citizenship requirements.

"Swamp creatures of either party shouldn't pass massive omnibus spending bills right before Christmas. So, Republicans can deliver a win-win to the American people on both issues by passing a spending freeze at current levels into, or through, 2025 and by attaching the SAVE Act to protect U.S. citizens' votes."