[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4597 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4597
To amend the REAL ID Act of 2005 to include an indication of United
States citizenship in the minimum requirements for driver's licenses
and identification cards under such Act, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 13, 2023
Mr. Van Orden introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Oversight and Accountability
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the REAL ID Act of 2005 to include an indication of United
States citizenship in the minimum requirements for driver's licenses
and identification cards under such Act, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS; SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Citizen Vote
Protection Act''.
(b) Findings; Sense of Congress.--
(1) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(A) Photo voter identification programs established
by the States should be administered without unlawful
discrimination and with an eye toward balancing
appropriate access to the ballot box with election
integrity and voter confidence goals.
(B) As confirmed by the bipartisan Commission on
Federal Election Reform (commonly known as the Carter-
Baker Commission), ``[v]oters in nearly 100 democracies
use a photo identification card without fear of
infringement of their rights''.
(C) As confirmed by the Carter-Baker Commission,
``[t]he right to vote is a vital component of U.S.
citizenship and all States should use their best
efforts to obtain proof of citizenship before
registering voters.''.
(D) The Carter-Baker Commission was correct in its
2005 report when it recommended that the REAL ID Act be
``modestly adapted for voting purposes to indicate on
the front or back whether the individual is a U.S.
citizen.''.
(E) Congress acknowledges the important work
completed by the Carter-Baker Commission and, by
amending the REAL ID Act, resolves the concerns in the
Commission's report that ``[t]he REAL ID Act does not
require that the card indicates citizenship, but that
would need to be done if the card is to be used for
voting purposes''.
(F) Photographic voter identification is important
for ensuring voter confidence in election processes and
outcomes.
(G) Requiring photographic voter identification is
well within States' constitutional competence,
including pursuant to the Qualifications Clause of the
Constitution of the United States (article I, section
2, clause 2), the Presidential Electors Clause of the
Constitution (article II, section 1, clause 2), and the
Seventeenth Amendment.
(H) The Fifteenth Amendment, the Nineteenth
Amendment, the Twenty-Fourth Amendment, and the Twenty-
Sixth Amendment, among other references, make clear
that the Constitution prohibits voting by non-citizens
in Federal elections.
(I) Congress has the constitutional authority,
including under the aforementioned amendments, to pass
statutes preventing non-citizens from voting in Federal
elections, and did so with the Illegal Immigration
Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996.
(J) Congress may further exercise its
constitutional authority to ensure the Constitution's
prohibition on non-citizen voting in Federal elections
is upheld.
(2) Sense of congress.--It is the sense of Congress that
the States should implement the substance of the recommendation
of the Carter-Baker Commission that, ``[t]o ensure that persons
presenting themselves at the polling place are the ones on the
registration list, the Commission recommends that states
[encourage] voters to use the REAL ID card, which was mandated
in a law signed by the President in May 2005''.
SEC. 2. REAL ID ACT AMENDMENT.
(a) Amendment.--Section 202(b) of the Real ID Act of 2005 (49
U.S.C. 30301 note) is amended by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(10) If the person is a citizen of the United States, an
indication of that citizenship, except that no other
information may be included with respect to the immigration
status of the person.''.
(b) Applicability.--The amendment made by this section shall be
effective January 1, 2027, and shall apply with respect to any driver's
license or identification card issued by a State on and after such
date.
(c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section or in any
amendment made by this section may be construed to establish or mandate
the use of a national identification card or to authorize any office of
the executive branch to establish or mandate the use of a national
identification card.
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