Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., accused Democrats of trying to "rig the next election" and protecting illegal immigrants from scrutiny as Senate Republicans opened what could become a days-long fight over the SAVE America Act, a GOP-backed bill that would require documentary proof of citizenship to register for federal elections and government-issued photo identification to vote.
Rose said on Newsmax's "National Report" that Democrats' opposition to the bill is at odds with public opinion.
"The support is overwhelming among Americans," he said. "Over 70% of Democrats, over 90% of Republicans support this, so it's really hard to imagine how the Senate leadership and House Democrats are standing in the way of this when it's overwhelmingly what their voters, what their supporters want to see them pass."
Rose said Democrat leaders are "pandering to illegal immigrants, criminal illegal aliens, and the most extreme elements of their party to the detriment of everyday Americans who understand that if we don't protect the right to vote in this country, then all is lost."
Rose's sharpest allegation came when he rejected Democrats' claims that the measure will suppress voters who tend to back their party.
"I think they're the ones who are attempting to rig the next election because the voters he's talking about, the only voters who won't be able to vote are the illegal aliens who are here and are not qualified to vote," he said, adding that "it's only those who are directly benefiting from cheating that want to stop this vote."
Rose also said Democrats' arguments against the bill were "bunk" and claimed "the only reason that Democrats are standing in the way of this is because they want to protect what they've worked so hard to secure, which is a large number of illegal aliens in this country who they hope will cheat the system and go vote and vote for Democrats."
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has framed the legislation as a common-sense election-integrity measure and has moved it to the floor even though Republicans do not appear to have the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster.
Republicans say stricter rules are needed to prevent fraud and bolster confidence in elections. Democrats and voting-rights groups argue the bill could disenfranchise eligible citizens who do not have easy access to passports, birth certificates or other citizenship documents, and they note that voting by noncitizens in federal elections is already illegal under federal law and documented cases of noncitizens voting are rare.
President Donald Trump has made passage of the bill a top priority and has publicly pressured Senate Republicans to keep the issue front and center.
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Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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