Roberts Lobbies for Senate to Bundle SAVE America Act with FISA

The SAVE America Act must be passed by the Senate as soon as possible, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said on Wednesday.

Roberts appeared on “The VINCE Show,” hosted by Vince Coglianese, and said he supports President Donald Trump pushing for the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to include the SAVE America Act.

“We’ve been saying for months it may be the only way to get the SAVE America Act passed is to attach it to FISA, and so I applaud the president for what he’s doing,” Roberts said.

FISA allows the government to surveil foreigners without a warrant, and it expired last Friday after Congress failed to pass an extension of the bill.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., called it “unrealistic” to bundle the two bills, and said he will only move to pass FISA once he’s confident there are enough votes.

“How Thune described the situation and the rules of the Senate yesterday are wrong—it’s just utterly wrong,” Roberts said. “The way you do this is to actually force debate. And ultimately, as Mike Lee has outlined so well for so many months, there is a way forward.”

Vice President JD Vance told the Daily Signal today that the Senate should at least attempt to pass the legislation.

“Why don’t we try, and at least force people to vote against it,” he said. “One of the things that sometimes frustrates me about the legislative process is that people will go into it saying this isn’t possible, therefore we’re not even going to try. Well, let’s actually see, let’s try it, and if it’s not possible, then let the people put their name on it.” 

The SAVE America Act should not be so highly debated, according to Roberts. It’s necessary to secure election integrity.

“All this is is voter identification and making sure that you’re a citizen to be voting in our elections,” Roberts said. “It’s not controversial.”

Voting to pass the SAVE America Act will only help senators who are up for reelection, according to Roberts.

“The great thing about this is—just to paint a positive picture for senators who may be worried—is, it’s really popular. The conservative base will turn out in the midterms if you go do this,” Roberts said. “This is one of the reasons we need to do it.”

Heritage is “working feverishly” to pressure the Senate into voting on the SAVE America Act alongside FISA, according to Roberts.

“We’re totally with the president,” Roberts said. “We need to get this done. We need to get it done this summer.”