Speaker 1 (00:00):
(silence)
Kristi Noem (16:48):
Perfect. There we go. That'll work better.
(16:51)
Well, good morning. Thank you all for being here again. I'm Kristi Noem, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, and I've had the opportunity today to spend some time with some of your elected officials, some of those that are involved in election security here and local leaders to discuss what we can do to make sure that we have integrity in our election systems going forward. I want to thank some of them that came today. Justin Heap is here. He's the Recorder of Maricopa County. I want to thank him for sharing some wisdom with me on what we can do to partner together. Also, State representative John Gillette of the 30th District is here too, and I want to thank him for all of the information that he shared with me. Jennifer Wright is a former assistant Arizona Attorney General for the Elections Unit, and she's here as well and shared her wisdom and work over the years to make sure that when people go to vote in an election that they can trust that vote counted and that they had the chance to cast their support behind the candidate that they wanted to.
(17:46)
At the end of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked out on the street by a woman what kind of a government that we would have, and he replied to her, "A republic, ma'am, if you can keep it." And that's what our job is. For 250
Kristi Noem (18:00):
250 years it's been our American duty to maintain our republic and to make sure that our elections are secure. Republics depend on the confidence of their citizens, that when they vote, that their vote matters, that it counts, and our elections are essential to make sure that that confidence stays there, that they know and trust that the system is fair. Since returning to office, President Trump has made election integrity a priority. He's made it a cornerstone of his Make America Great Again agenda, and the truth is that our election system needs a lot of work from state to state throughout the country we see challenges and things that can be improved on. And although the constitution gives states the primary responsibility for running their elections, Congress also gives authorities and duties to the federal government. Now, as the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, those authorities lie within my department and the responsibility lies with me.
(18:54)
I have the responsibility of not just pointing out different vulnerabilities that we may see in our election systems, but also with making sure that we're putting forward mitigation measures that can be enacted at the state and local level to make sure that our elections are run correctly, that the votes are counted and tabulated, and that the people that were elected or put into those positions. As President Trump said, "We will either fix our nation's election issues or we will no longer have a nation to save." Right now, America has a golden opportunity, a wonderful opportunity to show that we are serious about securing our elections and that we care about making sure that we preserve our sacred republic. Earlier this week, the House of Representatives passed the SAVE Act. This is federal legislation that does some common sense, straightforward things. First of all, it requires a photo ID in order to vote in federal elections.
(19:48)
It also requires proof of citizenship in order to register to vote, and it requires states to remove non-citizens from their voter rolls. These measures are extremely popular with American citizens. American people have common sense and they want to see reforms like this put into their elections. In fact, a Gallup poll was recently released that shows 84% of Americans support a photo ID when they go to vote. That 83% support proving your citizenship when you go to register to vote. A Pew research poll showed that 95% of Republicans and 71% of Democrats agree with voter ID. There's a reason why more than 80% of Americans support these measures, and that's because they work and their common sense and they build trust into the system. It's common sense that our elections should belong to the American people, that they should be the ones who get to vote, whose votes are counted, that they get one vote, not more, not less.
(20:51)
It's common sense to make sure that foreign nationals don't vote in our elections, don't elect our leaders and have a say in how our country runs. They don't and should not be allowed to be trampling on the voice of the American people and will no longer allow American citizens to be disenfranchised, to have their voices suppressed by criminals, by hostile foreign actors, and by illegal aliens that shouldn't be here in this country. It's a fact that non-citizens have been voting in our elections. They've been registered and they have voted from state to state. For example, one of the most recent individuals that we've talked about is Ian Andre Roberts. He was an illegal alien from Guyana that was arrested by ICE while serving in Des Moines, Iowa as the school district superintendent. Perhaps you remember hearing about that arrest. Despite him being here illegally in this country, he was registered to vote in Maryland.
(21:45)
He had a long rap sheet also of criminal charges including narcotics possession, second and third degree possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a forgery instrument. In Coldwater, Kansas, we had an illegal alien that was able to vote and was even elected as a mayor. He was charged by the Kansas Attorney General last fall for voting without being qualified and to election perjury charges, thanks to assistance for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Agency. As it stands, current guidelines for the National Voter Registration Act effectively stop states from going forward and checking citizenship during registration. The SAVE America Act would fix this. It would make sure that we close those loopholes and that we ensure in American elections only Americans vote. Critics assert that the SAVE America Act will somehow hurt American voters. That's just absurd and absolutely not true. One of the claims that they have made in criticizing this bill is that they say that newly married women would be disenfranchised because they've had a name change.
(22:50)
While there's many women out there, including myself who've been married and changed our names when we re-registered to vote, and likewise the idea that this bill would make it impossible for U.S. service members to vote if they're deployed overseas, well, that's completely false as well. For all of those procedures that are in place today, continue to stay that way after this act is passed and signed into law. They also say that this act requires voters to have a U.S. passport to register. That's not true. There's many, multiple options that are given to provide proof of citizenship including military ID, government ID, photo ID with a proof of birth and location. In fact, if an individual has no documentation, they have the option of appearing at an election office and providing an affidavit stating that they are a citizen of this country. Now, another ridiculous conspiracy theory that we've heard is that the federal government will remove people from state voter rolls.
(23:45)
Well, that's just simply not true. That state and local election officials do the registration and they maintain these lists going forward. We just help them do their job and make sure that they're doing it correctly. Each of the arguments that have been laid out to criticize this bill are baseless speculation from the radical left because they want illegal aliens to vote in our elections. They want to disenfranchise American citizens by telling them that their votes don't matter. There's only one reason that anyone would oppose this bill and that's because they would want to cheat. They want illegal people and aliens in this country to be able to vote for them and to rob the United States citizens of their vote, and that's why they resist us at every single level when we're trying to deport people back to their home countries or stop them from committing crimes against the American people.
(24:37)
That's why they do not support voter ID proof of U.S. citizenship or clean voter rules. That's why the SAVE America Act is absolutely critical to our country's future because without secure elections, we lose what makes our country so great and then when we lose that, we lose our country altogether. Almost 200 years ago in 1833, a Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story warned us with this and he warned us this about illegal entry into our country. "If aliens might be admitted indiscriminately to enjoy all of the rights of citizens at the will of a single state, the Union itself might be endangered by an influx of foreigners hostile to its institutions, ignorant of its powers and incapable of a due estimate of its privileges." There is no room in our election system for people that aren't Americans. There is no room in our election system for fraudsters and foreign influence.
(25:34)
The Declaration of Independence said this simple self-evident truth that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. Fair and secure elections are how we measure the consent of the governed and they ensure that our American citizens' voices are heard. Our founders at the time of the creation of this country pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to defend our freedoms. In fact, the Continental Army went for years without being paid and they braved through the brittle winter, brittle winter at Valley Forge as well. They did all of this because they wanted to ensure that their people, their families, and that their descendants could continue to live freely and could govern freely.
(26:20)
If we don't uphold this bedrock principle of representative government, then our nation's choices will be decided by illegal aliens, by criminals, by foreign actors, and people that don't support America being the greatest country in the world. Our nation's choices, instead, if it were allowed to degrade, our election system would allow illegal aliens, criminals, and others to undermine our country. This kind of election security is something that the government owes to the American people, and it's something that we, the American people owe to ourselves. We need to pass the SAVE America Act. We need to pass it today and sign it into law to ensure that the integrity of our election system stays
Kristi Noem (27:00):
Stays in place for years to come. May God continue to bless this great state, the great people who are working to make sure that everybody's vote matters and that it counts. May God continue to bless the great United States of America. Thank you. With that, I will open it up to any questions that you may have.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
So, the Secretary-
Kristi Noem (27:17):
Yes?
Speaker 2 (27:17):
... to fly on Arizona already requires proof of citizenship, and there have been repeated audits that have found that there is no unspread fraud happening in Arizona. Do you worry that emphasizing election security threats without evidence could undermine public confidence? And how do you ensure that messaging doesn't further any misinformation?
Kristi Noem (27:38):
We have a SAVE program that is available to the state of Arizona, that the state of Arizona could ensure through their Secretary of State that every county has access to, and allow them to go back in and verify those individuals that are on the voter rolls today to make sure they should be voting in the elections that come forward. That's what I would encourage the Secretary of State to do, and I'll be sending out mitigation measures that can help build a promise back into that system to maintain the critical infrastructure that is our elections.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Secretary, are you still in charge of the mass deportation campaigns or is Homeland?
Kristi Noem (28:10):
I'm still in charge of the Department of Homeland Security. That includes all 23 different agencies under our umbrella, including ICE and CBP, but also FEMA, TSA, Secret Service, the Coast Guard, many, many more.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
Secretary, now why-
Kristi Noem (28:23):
Yes, over here.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
Secretary, [inaudible 00:28:26] exclusive video regarding the DOJ wanting more information on Arizonian voters? What are your thoughts on this?
Kristi Noem (28:32):
I think that that would be a wonderful opportunity for him to be transparent and to ensure and promise the people of Arizona that they can trust their elections, and that when they show up on election day, they'll get to vote without problems or hassles, that they'll be prepared to make sure that vote counts, and that the correct results are announced.
Speaker 4 (28:49):
Secretary-
Kristi Noem (28:50):
Right here. I'll come to you next.
Speaker 5 (28:50):
You offered a couple of examples from Kansas, Maryland, and Iowa and such. Can you offer us any good examples of this kind of fraud in Arizona?
Kristi Noem (29:02):
Oh, I'm sure there's many of them, but we want to make sure that we have, we talked about several of them this morning at our round table that we had. We talked about individuals that may be registered to vote in this state but truly live in another state. I understand that you have mobile homes and boats on lakes that individuals may have as their voter registration address, but not necessarily that is where they live. They live in another state such as California or on the East Coast. Those kind of situations are things that your county officials should be bringing forward and be asking your Secretary of State for the opportunity to take off the voter rolls if they shouldn't be there.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
Secretary.
Kristi Noem (29:38):
Oh, right here. Sorry.
Speaker 6 (29:39):
Why choose to do this press conference this way? Your agency is about to run out of funding. You were just here in Arizona last week at the border, and obviously, you bussed all of us to a secure facility, and I'm curious as to why choose to do this press conference this way on something that doesn't seem top secret?
Kristi Noem (29:57):
Oh my goodness. This is our critical infrastructure. So, one of the things I think is good for all of you to know is that the Department of Homeland Security's mission is to defend the homeland, which means that even on our worst day, should we have an attack, a terrorist threat, if something disastrous happened to our country, the agency of FEMA under the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for running our government, which means that, according to law, the authorities that are under this department is maintaining our critical infrastructure, which means it's my job to make sure that our electrical grid is sustained and intact and operational, that we ensure that we protect our cybersecurity. Any kind of manipulation or threats we face on anything that's said or done on the internet is my responsibility. Our water systems, making sure that people have the water that they need for their communities to live and take care of their families. And elections is another one of those critical infrastructure responsibilities that I have as well.
(30:54)
And I would say that many people believe that it may be one of the most important things that we need to make sure we trust is reliable, and that, when it gets to election day, that we've been proactive to make sure that we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country through the days that we have, knowing the people can trust it. That's why you're here for me. I do press conferences because I want to be transparent and let you ask questions and have conversations, but I hope that you do recognize that, in the past, your state has been an absolute disaster on elections, that your leaders have failed you dramatically by not having systems that work, by disenfranchising the Americans who wanted to vote that had to stand in lines for hours because machines failed or software failed.
(31:38)
There's no state that could use more improvement than Arizona, and you should be asking all of your leaders what they're doing to fix the system. What are they doing to make sure that individuals in this state can trust that their vote is going to be taken, that it's going to be counted, and that it's going to matter to make sure the right people are in charge. Yes?
(31:57)
Right over here.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
2024 Election.
Kristi Noem (32:04):
Yes.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
In Arizona, we already require proof of citizenship to register to vote, but we also allow members of our tribal nations to use their enrollment documents to vote. Under the SAVE Act, they wouldn't be able to do this.
Kristi Noem (32:11):
Tribal IDs are recognized.
Speaker 4 (32:14):
Do they-
Kristi Noem (32:14):
Tribal IDs.
Speaker 4 (32:15):
Right, but most tribes don't have tribal IDs, not with photos and places of birth. They wouldn't be-
Kristi Noem (32:21):
There's many different options that can be used. Now, remember, the SAVE Act only says that you need to prove your citizenship when you register to vote. It does not say that you have to prove your citizenship and able to go and vote. When you go vote on that day, you need to have a photo ID, and many times, in Arizona here, you do have that requirement on your voter rolls. However, I understand that you need to go back and clean up your voter rolls.
(32:43)
We have a program through the Department of Homeland Security. That's called the SAVE Program that your Secretary of State and your governor can use today to clean up voters on your rolls that shouldn't be there. Maybe people who've passed away, people that aren't citizens, people that don't live here, and that would make sure that, in your next election, when people are casting their votes, they know they're voting for the right decisions and that those votes are counted and they're counted appropriately and someone else didn't get to weigh in on their leadership.
Speaker 7 (33:11):
Secretary-
Kristi Noem (33:11):
Yes?
Speaker 8 (33:11):
Last question.
Kristi Noem (33:11):
Yes. Last one.
Speaker 5 (33:11):
Regarding the El Paso Aerospace closure, can you confirm that CBP actually hit a party balloon and thought it was a drone with a laser earlier this week as it was reported, and if that is true, why wasn't the action coordinated with the FAA?
Kristi Noem (33:27):
This was a joint agency task force mission that was undertaken, and we're continuing to work on the communication through that, but recognize, we're grateful for the partnership of the Department of War and the FAA as we go forward.
Speaker 5 (33:42):
A follow up-
Kristi Noem (33:42):
Thank you.
Speaker 8 (33:42):
Thank you, friends.
Kristi Noem (33:43):
All right. Thanks everybody.