This is my U.S. passport. I know exactly where it is at all times. About 48% of Americans have a passport, which means 52% don't. My other proof of American citizenship is my certificate

of naturalization. And while my American citizenship means a lot to me, I honestly couldn't tell you

where that document is because I haven't touched it since the day I got it back in 2015 for good reason.

But here's the thing. The only time I ever need my passport within the United States is when I'm applying for another passport of renewal, or because I live in one of the five states which issue enhanced driver's license, in which my driver's license can also be used as proof of my citizenship. In other words, there's no other use case for a passport. And since there's no requirement to carry one for internal identification

purposes within the United States, no one who doesn't travel internationally, like I do,

needs to go through the process and expense of getting a passport. I do travel internationally for

work, a lot. When you cross borders, proof matters. When the world gets smaller or more dangerous, you want

something in your hand that says you belong somewhere. If you don't have a passport, this concept

of citizenship can feel abstract, like a concept, like a distant pile of paperwork, like something

that just is. Or at least that's how I used to think about citizenship. I learned what it actually

costs and what it demands to

belong, because American is not a little book like this. It's an idea. When I took an oath to

become a citizen, it was a promise that I got that idea, that I understood civic duty as the

fabric of this country. First among those duties is voting. And here's the problem with voting in America.

It's not non-citizens voting. It's citizens not voting. In presidential elections, only about

60% of eligible American voters participate. In midterms, it drops closer to 40%. And in midterm

primaries, which practically decide the whole

race in some cases, it's even lower, closer to 20%. That's the real Democratic deficit. And it's

the problem a serious election policy ought to try to solve. But that's not what's happening in this

Congress. This House this week passed the Save Act,

the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, a bill that says targets, they say targets

non-citizens voting by requiring people to provide proof of citizenship when they register

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