Rep. Riley Moore (R-WV) said on Breitbart News Daily that House Republicans are moving to attach the SAVE America Act to the National Defense Authorization Act, putting voter ID legislation back before the Senate after the House repeatedly passed measures aimed at requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to vote.
Moore said it is “frustrating” for House members to watch the Senate fail to act, contending that “we are constantly consistently held hostage to the inaction of the Senate.”
“We have passed the Save America Act three times in the House,” Moore said, adding that the SAVE Act, which he described as “the original version of the voter ID bill,” is “going to be attached to the National Defense Authorization Act.”
Moore said the maneuver was structured through the rules process so that, once the NDAA is “engrossed in the House,” the SAVE Act language will be “merged into the bill” and included in the base text.
If the Senate rejects the language, Moore said, the House and Senate would go to conference and “fight over putting that language back into the bill,” which would force senators to take “the action of removing this from the National Defense Authorization Act.”
The West Virginia Republican said pressure should fall on GOP senators, adding, “We got 53 Republicans in the Senate, their margin is better than ours in the House,” and stating that they “need to vote for this National Defense Authorization Act with the Save Act in it.”
Asked whether Democrats could be persuaded to support some version of the legislation, Moore said, “I don’t think Democrats are going to vote for this,” before pointing to California’s automatic voter registration system as an example of what he views as a problem.
“State of California has automatic voter registration when you go get a driver’s license,” Moore said, noting that driver’s licenses are available to people in the country legally and illegally and asking whether anyone believes there are not noncitizens voting in U.S. elections.
Moore said the federal government should ensure that “U.S. citizens are voting in our elections,” adding that if Republicans cannot stand up for that principle, “That is a sad state of affairs for the Republican Party.”
Moore also drew a distinction between the SAVE Act and the Save America Act, saying the SAVE Act is “primarily dealing with voter ID,” while the Save America Act, which was written afterward and encompasses the content of the SAVE Act, addresses “voter ID and the mail-in ballot question.”
On mail-in ballots, Moore said Democrats have “eroded trust and confidence in the elections” by allowing vote-counting to continue well after Election Day, asking, “Why would you not have an erosion of trust in the process when it drags on for weeks, if not months?”
Moore pointed to India as an example, saying the country has “over a billion people” and “got their election results in a day,” while questioning why California sometimes cannot produce results “within five, six weeks.”
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Moore said, adding that he lacks trust in results from California because delayed counting contributes to doubts about whether elections are “all above board.”
Moore also criticized Republicans who argue that continued focus on election integrity undermines confidence and turnout, saying, “They are the ones that are hurting Republican enthusiasm and turnout.”
“It goes back to that point that I just made, the erosion of trust in the election cycle,” Moore said, asking why voters would show up “when I don’t even know my vote even matters.”
Moore said election integrity remains a major concern among Republican voters, calling it “a core tenant” of why Republicans “won in 2024” and saying the issue comes up at “any Lincoln Reagan Day dinner in any county in America.”
“This will be a top issue for any Republican that you talk to,” Moore said, adding that the concern spans “moderate to MAGA” Republicans who do not understand “why you can’t get this done.”
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