WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Representative Mike Bost’s (R-IL) legislation requiring U.S. citizenship to vote in any Washington, D.C., election was approved by the House Committee on Administration in preparation for an eventual vote in the House. Bost’s bill, the American Confidence in Elections: District of Columbia Citizen Voter Act, comes in response to the D.C. City Council’s decision last year to give non-citizens over the age of 18 the right to vote in city and local elections.

“Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution grants Congress direct control over Washington, D.C.; and we have the right and responsibility to ensure that American citizens, and American citizens only, are voting in our nation’s capital city,” said Bost. “When you allow non-citizens to vote in D.C., you are diluting the votes of legal U.S. citizens and opening the door to foreign agents fomenting chaos at the ballot box. I refuse to stand by and allow radical liberals to weaken the voice of legal American citizens when Congress has the constitutional authority to stop it.”

“American elections should be for American citizens,” said Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI). “D.C. elections have been a disaster for years, and now they have implemented a ridiculous measure that will allow embassy staff from our foreign adversaries like Russia and China to vote after living in the Capital for just 30 days. It’s past time for Congress to exercise our constitutional responsibility over D.C. to protect voters. I thank Congressman Bost for leading this common-sense legislation that will help restore voter confidence.”

The American Confidence in Elections: District of Columbia Citizen Voter Act is expected to be included in a package of legislation that House Republicans plan to advance for protecting the integrity of America’s elections.

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