TRANSCRIPT: At A Press Conference On The SAVE Act, Leader Schumer Slammed Republicans For Moving To Pass Their Radical Voter Suppression Bill While Americans Are Suffering
Washington, D.C. – Today, Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) spoke at a press conference on the SAVE Act, criticizing MAGA Republicans’ continued efforts to pass their radical voter suppression bill that would disenfranchise millions while Americans are suffering at home. Leader Schumer announced Senate Democrats will continue to fight on the floor as long as it takes to prevent it from passing. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks:
It’s cold outside, but we are fiery in our determination to beat this awful, despicable, un-American bill. You know, look what’s going on. War, an evil war, is consuming the Middle East. Prices are skyrocketing everywhere, from gas to groceries. Job growth in America is weakening as Trump tanks our economy. These are all things that bother average Americans. And what are Trump and the MAGA Republicans focused on? Voter suppression. Instead of doing something about the real problems, they’re trying to fix the election. Because they know, they know damn well that if the election were held today, they would lose. No question about it. And we would take back the Senate.
And so, the American people are tired of this administration already. They are tired of endless wars, tired of increased costs, tired of chaos, tired of the corruption. This is the most corrupt administration we have ever seen in America. And the MAGA Republicans know it. They know it. And so they’re so unpopular that the only way they can win in November is kick millions of people, people they don’t like, off the voting rolls. They are trying to dupe us, folks. They are trying to dupe America. They say, “Oh, this is just a voter ID law.” Bullshit. It is not a voter ID law. It is a law that will kick millions of Americans off the voting rolls.
We know what happened. Their bill, they had to add this in, demands that every state turn over the voting rolls to the Department of Homeland Security. And we’ve had enough of them on other issues, on other issues. And once they get that, there is an algorithm put in by Musk and DOGE that would kick tens of millions of people off the rolls. They say they want to kick people who are not citizens, who are immigrants, off the rolls. But there’s no evidence of any of that. It will kick millions of American citizens off the rolls. And they don’t even require you be told.
So if you voted at the same voting place and used the same voter ID year after year after year, you’re going to show up in November if this law passes, and it won’t. If this law passes and they’ll say, “Ms. Jones, Mr. Smith, sorry, you’re no longer on the voting rolls.” You said, but no one told me that. And then there’ll be no way for you to vote.
So I have called this act over and over again, Jim Crow 2.0. And they hate it. I’ve gotten 50 million right-wing attacks on my email because I said it. And you know why they attack it? Because they know it’s the truth. It is Jim Crow 2.0, but it’s spread across the whole country. You can’t use a driver’s license to register, you’re a soldier and you’ve risked your life for your country, you can’t use your military ID. It will be easier in most states to buy an AR-15 assault weapon than register to vote under their law. Can you believe that?
So we’re fighting this tooth and nail. We are fighting this tooth and nail. It is so despicable. It is so outrageous. And we need your help, not only to stand here, but to let all America know what this really is. Because they’re afraid to let America know what it really is because America will hate it. It’s un-American. It’s taking 50 years of steps back instead of moving us forward. No more registering online. No more registering at churches or on college campuses. It is just outrageous.
And so we know how bad this will be for our democracy. We know why they’re doing it. I want to pledge to you that as Minority Leader of the Senate, my caucus and I, including Senators LBJ, LBR – sometimes I say LBJ, he did a lot for voting right and so is she, Senator Kim, Senator Padilla, who was already here, Senator Lujan, all of us are united and banding together. No matter how late we have to stay up, no matter how many days, weeks, weekends, months, we have to be on the floor of the Senate, we will not let this evil legislation pass.
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