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Guaranteed Human.

Welcome to New World Podcast on the IHeart Podcast Network.

Congress is technically on its 4th of July recess this week,

but I want to talk about why they left town the way they did

because it tells you almost everything

you need to know about the state of Washington right now. Before the break, the House Republican

majority, narrow as it is, actually adjourned early, not because Democrats blocked them,

because a dozen or so of their own members refused to move forward on the floor until leadership

committed to bringing up election reform and immigration reform. Now, whatever you think about

the specific policy fights, I want you to sit with that for a second. A dozen members of Congress

said essentially, we're not going to keep doing business as usual while the single most basic function of a republic,

knowing that only eligible citizens are deciding our elections, sits unresolved.

I have some sympathy for this kind of stubbornness.

I used to be that stubborn member of Congress myself more than once, and it's usually uncomfortable and usually right.

Here's the backdrop. The Save America Act, legislation that would require documentary proof

of citizenship to register to vote plus photo ID at the polls, passed the House back in February

with a real majority. Straightforward stuff.

If you're a citizen, you should be able to prove it,

the same way you prove it to get on an airplane or open a bank account.

But in June, the Senate failed to pass it.

Failed.

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