Rep. Chip Roy (TX-21) reintroduced legislation Tuesday to prevent the District of Columbia from using federal funds to allow non-citizens to vote in elections.
Rep. Roy’s bill comes as the D.C. city government recently transmitted to Congress a measure that would allow illegal aliens to vote in local elections. The bill was first introduced in the Senate by Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Rep. Roy at the end of last Congress.
Rep. Roy said:
“The privilege and duty to vote this Republic’s elections is, and should remain, reserved for citizens. The D.C. Council’s recent effort to allow non-citizens to vote is just another example of the radical left’s insane and reckless governance of our nation’s capital, which has also precipitated riots, lawlessness, and a homelessness crisis in recent years. It is high time for Congress to reassert its constitutional control over DC; that’s why I’m proud to work with my longtime friend Senator Cruz to restore common sense to its elections.”
Sen. Cruz said:
“Voting is a distinct right and privilege that American citizens enjoy in the United States. It is a responsibility, not to be treated lightly, and it must be protected. Voters decide not only who will lead our country, our cities and communities, but also how our tax dollars should be spent and what policies we should adopt. Even the Washington Post agrees that non-citizen voting is a terrible idea. Allowing non-citizens and illegal immigrants to vote in our elections opens our country up to foreign influence, and allows those who are openly violating U.S. law or even working for hostile foreign governments to take advantage and direct our resources against our will.”
“Allowing non-citizens, including aliens occupying our nation illegally, to exercise a right reserved for American citizens not only violates the constitutional principles our nation was founded upon, but also naively invites foreign meddling in our elections. Voting is a privilege and the tool by which American citizens exercise their say in who leads our country, how we spend our tax dollars, and what policies should be instituted. I am vehemently against unconstitutionally cheapening the votes of American citizens and ignoring the rule of law in this nation.”
House co-sponsors of the bill include Reps. Randy Weber (TX-14), Mary Miller (IL-15), Gary Palmer (AL-6), Bill Posey (FL-15), Jake Ellzey (TX-6), Andrew Clyde (GA-9), and Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14).
The Senate companion is co-sponsored by Senator Steve Daines (MT), Rick Scott (FL), J.D. Vance (OH), John Kennedy (LA), and Josh Hawley (MO).
More support for this bill:
RJ Hauman, head of government relations and communications at the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR):
“Two and a half centuries ago, our nation was founded on the principle that sovereign people should determine their own destinies. Last year, the city council of our Nation’s capital fundamentally violated that founding principle in an effort to empower noncitizens – including illegal aliens and employees at embassies of governments that are openly hostile to the United States – to determine the outcome of local elections. The right to vote is at the very core of the principle of self-determination and what it means to be a citizen. The actions of the D.C. city government are the next and most damaging steps in an ongoing effort to erase any distinction between American citizens and noncitizens. We applaud Senator Cruz for stepping up to the plate in an effort to pre-emptively address this radical measure.”
Rosemary Jenks, Director of Government Relations, NumbersUSA:
“The D.C. Council’s move to allow noncitizens to vote in D.C. elections defies both common sense and good governance. Beyond the absurdity of the leaders in Washington, D.C. begging for Federal assistance with their recent ‘surge’ of 8,200 illegal aliens while simultaneously offering them the right to vote if they come, it is totally unconscionable that the district that serves as the seat of our Federal government would actively work to dilute the votes of American citizens with the votes of all resident foreign nationals, including the embassy staff who live and work in D.C. on behalf of governments like Russia and China. We applaud Senator Cruz for working to stop this absurd policy and protect the voting rights of all Americans in the District of Columbia.”
