Thune on the SAVE Act: We Want To Put Democrats On The Record
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) explains where the battle over the SAVE America Act stands on “Special Report.”
BRET BAIER, HOST: The man who’s trying to get the Save America Act passed in the Senate is the Senate Majority Leader, John Thune. He joins us tonight. Senator, thanks for doing this. SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: Good to be with you, thanks, Bret. BAIER: You’re now on the bill. Where is it? Where does it stand at this moment? THUNE: We’re on it. Yeah, we took the House-passed bill, which had basically the two provisions that would require you to prove citizenship in order to register to vote. And then you’d have to show ID when you actually vote. And that came over in the form of a message which enables us here in the Senate to get on that at 51 votes. Typically it would be 60, we’d have to have cloture on the motion to proceed. But we’re on the bill and we’re going to be debating it for the next few days. And we’ll see how long after. BAIER: But you’re pessimistic that you’re going to get the votes need to pass this bill? THUNE: Well, I’m pessimistic because I’m — I’m always pessimistic that Democrats are actually going to come to their senses and — and do what common sense would dictate they do. And that is support this. I mean, these are things that are supported broadly across Americans of all political parties, including Democrats. But we would need, in order to pass it in the Senate, 60 votes. And that means we’re going to have a certain number at least of Democrats. And maybe during the course of the debate, they’ll be won over. I’m not saying that can’t happen. But I’m saying I have to be prepared at some point, you know, that this is going to come to a conclusion. But I think what we wanted to do was put them on the record, force them to defend a position which we think is indefensible, particularly where the — with where the American people are on this. So it’s a — you know, it’s a free-wheeling debate on the floor. And in the end we’ll see if the Democrats come around and deliver some votes.
