'Terrible message': GOP lawmaker fumes after only 5 House Dems support bill requiring citizenship to vote

GOP Rep. Claudia Tenney praised House Republicans on Thursday after they passed the SAVE Act which prevents illegal immigrants from voting in elections.

FIRST ON FOX: Republican Congresswoman Claudia Tenney of New York is reacting to the House passage of the SAVE Act that she co-sponsored, which aims to prevent illegal immigrants from voting in U.S. elections.

"I think what it does is it just puts an exclamation point on the fact that the states are the ones that have been in power to control the laws and that the states need to ensure that we have citizens only voting in elections so that we're we're solidifying the concept of one citizen, one vote," Tenney told Fox News Digital after the House passed the SAVE Act by a final vote of 221-198.

Only five Democrats voted in favor of the measure, including Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas; Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas; Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine; Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C.; and Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash.

"There's nothing more sacred and more profound than the right to vote and especially to preserve our self-governing constitutional republic and to preserve our democracy. And the Democrats can keep talking about democracy, but nothing undermines the values of the right of each individual to have their vote cast and allowing non-citizens to vote," Tenney, the chair of the House Election Integrity Caucus, told Fox News Digital.

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Under the legislation, voters would be required to provide proof of citizenship via IDs and documentation such as a passport, a government-issued photo ID showing proof the individual was born in the U.S., military IDs, or a valid photo ID as well as documentation showing proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, the legislation states. 

"This will be one of the most important votes that members of this chamber will ever take in their entire careers," House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a press release before the vote. 

"And it's an issue we never thought we would have to actually address, but that moment has come to us now. Should Americans and Americans alone determine the outcome of American elections? Or should we allow foreigners and illegal aliens to decide who sits in the White House and in the People's House and in the Senate?"

Democratic leadership urged its members to vote against the bill arguing that it would place "an extreme burden [on] countless Americans."

"It's pretty incredible to me that this is what they [Democrats] continue to do is to really undermine our sacred right to vote, undermine the right of citizens and no one feels more aggrieved by this than people who are new citizens, people who are excited about their ability to vote in an election that's private and free and that's fair," Tenney told Fox News Digital. "And so I think that that really sends a terrible message, if that's what the Democrats plan on running on, as they remain in disarray and chaos over their leading nominee right now for president."

Tenney told Fox News Digital she does not know what the future holds for the legislation in the Senate but is fairly confident Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will "reject it."

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"It really is a shame on Schumer and a real disgrace that Schumer as a lawyer and a person that takes an oath to uphold the Constitution of New York and the Constitution of the United States if he would blatantly just undermine our own constitutional principles and not bringing something like this to the floor and recognizing that only citizens should be voting in elections," Tenney said.

Schumer’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

The passage of the SAVE Act drew praise from conservatives across the nation including Heritage Action for America Executive Vice President Ryan Walker who told Fox News Digital in a statement that the vote is a "victory for the integrity of our elections and every single American." 

"Heritage Action was proud to include today’s vote on our legislative scorecard because all voters deserve to see which lawmakers sat idly by and let Joe Biden’s illegal alien invasion dilute the power of our votes," Walker said. "Speaker Johnson was right to ask earlier today in a floor speech if Democrats will support any measure to prevent voter fraud. Unfortunately, the answer is no. The Left wants open borders and open ballot boxes for illegal aliens, while conservatives want security for our communities and elections."

Fox News Digital’s Timothy H.J. Nerozzi and Greg Wehner contributed to this report