Congressman touts state's Election Security, introduces Federal Lands Firearm Carry Bill

Indiana Congressman Rudy Yakym is highlighting two legislative priorities this week — continuing his push for a national voter ID law modeled after Indiana's election security standards and introducing new legislation to end what he calls an unconstitutional firearms ban inside federal buildings on public lands.

Yakym pointed to Indiana's long history of election integrity measures, noting the state passed the nation's first voter ID law approximately a decade ago — a law later upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. To vote in Indiana, a photo ID must include the voter's photo, a name matching their registration, a current or recently expired date, and must be issued by the State of Indiana or the federal government. Indiana has since expanded voter ID requirements to absentee ballots and enacted the country's first documentary proof-of-citizenship requirement.

"Indiana should be the national standard," Yakym said.

That belief has driven his repeated support for the SAVE America Act, which requires that only U.S. citizens may vote and that voters must present an ID to prove it. Yakym cast his fourth vote in favor of the bill this week.

"In Indiana, we call that common sense," he said. "I won't stop fighting for it until it's law."

Yakym also introduced the Federal Lands Lawful Carry Act this week, targeting what he describes as an inconsistent and unconstitutional rule on federal public lands. Under current law, visitors may legally carry a firearm on trails and outdoor areas of national parks, but carrying that same firearm into a visitor center, ranger station, or restroom constitutes a federal crime.

"The law inside the building should match the law right outside the door," Yakym said. "Not only is that not common sense, but it's blatantly unconstitutional."

The bill would align the rules inside federal buildings on public lands with those already in effect just steps away outdoors.