{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://bice.house.gov/media/press-releases/bice-votes-pass-election-integrity-bill", "Bice Votes to Pass Election Integrity Bill", "2024-07-11", "2024", "2024-07", "Republican", "House", "OK", "Stephanie I. Bice", "B000740", "bice.house.gov", "bice", "https://bice.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Bice and House Republicans passed H.R. 8281, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act. This piece of legislation will help certify the integrity and safety of U.S. elections. The bill preserves one of the most fundamental rights afforded to American citizens \u2013 the right to vote \u2013 by requiring proof of citizenship in order to cast a ballot in a federal election.\n\nSpecifically, H.R. 8281\n\nAmends the National Voter Registration Act to require states to obtain documentary proof of U.S. citizenship and identity \u2013 in person \u2013 when registering an individual to vote in a federal election.\n\nRequires states to establish a program to remove non-citizens from their existing voter rolls.\n\nGives states immediate no-cost access to federal databases with citizenship information.\n\nAdds penalties for federal, state, and local officials who knowingly register non-citizens to vote in federal elections.\n\nDirects states to establish a process for applicants that do not have documentary proof of citizenship but are in fact U.S. citizens.\n\nCongresswoman Bice issued the following statement:\n\n\u201cSecuring our elections is of paramount importance, which is why I was proud to vote in favor of the SAVE Act. This bill ensures that we protect the votes of American citizens; making it easy to vote and hard to cheat. We must strengthen our election security, improve voter confidence, and ensure American citizens are the only ones voting. The President\u2019s decision to issue a veto threat for this legislation is deeply concerning. The SAVE Act is commonsense and should benon-controversial, as it only seeks to protect the right to vote for each and every citizen.\u201d\n\nRemarks as prepared:\n\nCongresswoman Bice: Thank you Mr. Speaker.\n\nI rise today in strong support of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility or SAVE Act.\n\nSince taking office, more than 9.6 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border.\n\nThis crisis is not only a national security concern, but one that can seriously alter the outcome of our elections.\n\nWe have seen efforts from states and localities, including the District of Colombia to allow non-citizens to vote.\n\nSecuring our elections is of paramount importance, and we must ensure that it is easy to vote and hard to cheat.\n\nThe SAVE Act will strengthen our election administration, improve voter confidence, and ensure that American elections are ONLY for American citizens.\n\nSpecifically, this legislation requires state election officials to ask about citizenship before providing voter registration forms and requires an individual to provide proof of citizenship in order to register to vote in federal elections.\n\nThese commonsense solutions are non-controversial, which is why I am deeply concerned that the President of the United States has threatened to veto this legislation.\n\nIn fact, this step should alarm every citizen living in our country.\n\nAnd we must ask why\u2026Why is this Administration refusing to take steps to safeguard our elections and protect the votes of every single American.\n\nI strongly support the SAVE Act and look forward to voting for it.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:24:45Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://bice.house.gov/media/press-releases/bice-votes-pass-election-integrity-bill"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.4799661003053188, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}