Floor Statements

So, Mr. President, tomorrow, the U.S. Senate will vote to protect one of the most fundamental freedoms that women have in this country: the freedom to choose whether or not to have an abortion. Few decisions are more personal and few decisions are more private than decisions women make regarding their own pregnancies. Few should be more out of bounds to elected politicians and to the whims of government. But, sadly, few rights are in as much peril right now as the fundamental right to choose.

If this abominable decision becomes law, women will lose their freedom in so many ways--a giant step backward in the United States, where expanding freedom has always been our goal and our aspiration.

Tomorrow's vote will be one of the most important votes we take in this Chamber in decades because, for the first time in 50 years, a conservative majority--an extreme conservative majority--on the Supreme Court is on the brink of declaring that women do not have a right to an abortion, they do not have the right to control their own bodies, and they do not have the right to healthcare in the ways that they believe they need.

If that happens, tens of millions of women will see their freedoms contract in the blink of an eye. Our children will grow up in a world where they have fewer rights than their parents and grandparents had. America will take a painful and damaging step backward.

The American people will be watching the Senate closely tomorrow, and they will not forget how their elected Senators voted. I ask my colleagues to think carefully about their vote, to grapple with the impact of a world without Roe because all of us will have to answer for this vote for the rest of our time in public office.

Now, it is worth saying over and over again: Last week's draft decision didn't come out of nowhere; it didn't materialize in a vacuum. On the contrary, it is precisely the outcome that extreme Republicans have been working toward for years. Leader McConnell himself has admitted that this was their plan

all along. They have worked for years to confirm radical judges, plucked right out of the Federalist Society playbook, with the express goal to ``pick away at Roe v. Wade.'' That is their quote.

The radicals on the hard right have passed wave after wave of draconian restrictions at the State level, making abortion nearly impossible to access. One of those laws is about to be upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States.

These radicals have taken what were once outlandish ideas, like prison time for women and doctors and abortion bans without exception for rape and incest, and brought them to the forefront. Ideas that were radical and out of hand they are now talking about freely. Should Roe ultimately be overturned, many of us fear it would be just the start.

Over the weekend, Leader McConnell acknowledged where this is ultimately going. Without Roe, proposals for a nationwide ban on abortions are now possible if Republicans retake the Senate. That is what Leader McConnell said this weekend. That is right--a national ban on abortion. Not very long ago, the idea seemed to belong on the extreme of the extremes. Now the Republican leader himself acknowledges this is on the table--just a glaring indication of how radicalized the Republican Party has become in recent decades as the MAGA wing has all but completed its cancerous takeover.

All the times that Republicans disguised their hostility to Roe as a matter of ``States' rights'' have been exposed for what they are: hypocrisy, a smokescreen hiding the real objective. It is one of the oldest, most sinister arguments Republicans have used for decades. For MAGA Republicans, this has never been about States' rights; it has always been about getting rid of abortion altogether.

The hypocrisies run deeper still. It is worth noting that the very same party that spent years opposing healthcare by saying that ``the American people want healthcare decisions left up to families and doctors''--that is what they said as they opposed ACA year after year. They said, again, the American people want healthcare decisions left up to their families and doctors when it came to ACA. They are now the very same radicals who are telling Americans: No, it is not up to your family and your doctor; it is your body, our choice--the radical right's choice, the choice of five men on the Supreme Court who are extreme.

Now, many on the other side can't even bring themselves to own the horrors they have unleashed. They are trying to convince people they are not extreme, but the truth is that the MAGA wing of the Republican Party is running the show, and their actions prove how extreme they are.

Senate Republicans have spent a full week trying to change the subject to anything but Roe because they know how toxic this issue has become for them. The Republican leader tried to say, in vain, that the real story of the draft decision was not the end of Roe but the source of the leaked draft? Tell that to 100 million Americans who will lose their most personal of rights. I am sure they don't care as much about the leaked draft as about how they can control their own bodies.

The chair of the Republican campaign arm, Senator Scott, released laughable talking points saying Republicans, of course, don't want to imprison doctors, even though his allies, his fellow MAGA Republicans, are pushing for exactly that at the State level. It would all be farcical if it wasn't so bone-chilling and the consequences were not so serious.

Senate Republicans can try to run from their role in securing Roe's extinction, but sooner or later, the truth wins out. Without the actions they have taken for years, reproductive rights wouldn't be staring straight into a doomsday scenario.

So, tomorrow, the vote to protect abortion rights will shine like a floodlight on every Member of this Chamber. Republicans who pretended disingenuously as if this moment couldn't possibly happen will have to answer to the women of America whose rights are about to be turned back by decades.

Tomorrow, there will be no more hiding; there will be no more distracting, no more obfuscating where every Member in this Chamber stands. Senate Republicans will face a choice: Either vote to protect the rights of women to exercise freedom over their own bodies or stand with the Supreme Court as 50 years of women's rights are reduced to rubble before our very eyes. The vote tomorrow will tell.

Mr. President, now on Ukraine, later today, the House is set to vote on nearly $40 billion in emergency aid to help Ukraine as the Ukrainians continue to fight back quite successfully against Russian aggression. This is a large package, but the need is great, and time is of the essence. After the House passes the legislation, it is my intention for the Senate to act on it as soon as we can. The President has called on both Chambers of Congress to act quickly on the Ukrainian aid package, so act quickly we must.

The Ukrainian Ambassador will be visiting us at our caucus lunch this afternoon to discuss the upcoming package, and she will let us know how important it is to quickly approve it. Quickly approving this emergency funding is essential to helping the people of Ukraine in their fight against the vicious Putin. It will mean more funding to provide Javelins, Stingers, Howitzers, Switchblade unmanned aerial munitions, and other critical equipment. And it will mean more food, supplies, and shelter for the millions of Ukrainian refugees who are in the midst of the largest refugee crisis since the Second World War.

We have a moral obligation to stand with our friends in Ukraine. The fight they are in is a struggle between democracy and authoritarianism itself, and we dare not relent or delay swift action to help our friends in need.

And make no mistake, the Senate will move swiftly to get an emergency funding package passed and sent to the President's desk.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, I move to proceed to the motion to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not agreed to on Executive Calendar No. 844, the nomination of Lisa DeNell Cook.

Madam President, I move to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked on Calendar No. 844.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 848.

Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

I move to proceed to legislative session.

I move to proceed to Calendar No. 362, S. 4132.

I send a cloture motion to the desk.

I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 865.

Madam President, I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, May 9, be waived.

Now, Madam President, I have just filed cloture on the Women's Health Protection Act. This week, the Senate will be confronted with a simple but urgent question: Do women in this country have a basic right to make their own choices when it comes to seeking an abortion, yes or no? It will be one of the most important questions this Chamber confronts in decades because, for the first time in 50 years, women in America face the real possibility of living in a world where the protections of Roe v. Wade are a thing of the past. It will set up a situation where our children, female children, have less rights than their grandparents--something that is so un-American, taking away rights, stepping backward from rights in such a dramatic way.

So, tonight, I will set up a vote for Wednesday on legislation that will codify the fundamental right to an abortion into Federal law. Every American is going to see where every Senator stands on protecting one of the most important rights a woman has regarding her own body.

I want to be clear. This week's vote is not an abstract exercise; this is as real and as high stakes as it gets. And Senate Republicans will no longer be able to hide from the horror they have unleashed upon women in America. After spending years packing our courts with rightwing judges and Justices, after changing the rules of the Senate to push three rigidly conservative Justices, after stealing the nomination of Merrick Garland, the time has come for Republicans, this new MAGA Republican Party, to answer for their actions.

If Senate Republicans allow the Supreme Court's decision to stand, it will be open season--open season--on women's rights in America.

A few days ago, Leader McConnell himself acknowledged that a Federal ban on abortions is now possible should the Supreme Court overturn Roe and Republicans take control of the Senate.

Let me say that again because it is so dreadful. In light of the Supreme Court's decision--upcoming decision--Leader McConnell acknowledged that a national ban on abortion is now possible without Roe if Republicans reclaim the majority.

Hear that, America? A total ban--a total national ban on abortion, stated by not any Republican but by the Republican leader. Every single American needs to hear what Leader McConnell said.

For years--for decades--Republicans have tried to disguise their hostility to abortion by claiming that all they really want is to let the States decide for themselves how they will treat the issue. It is an old claim from the right: This is about States' rights. This argument has always been hypocritical, and Leader McConnell's comments make it perfectly clear why.

The game here is not about States' rights; the goal has always been a national ban on abortions altogether. States' rights is a smokescreen, nothing more than a distraction, a ruse to hide from the true claims of the hard right, of the MAGA Republicans: a national ban on abortion.

A Federal restriction on abortion would be among the most extreme ideas ever pushed by Senate Republicans, but in light of Roe's repeal, it seems that is the road the MAGA Republicans want to take our country down. And as scary as that is, I feel it is just the start. Ideas that have long been relegated to the fringes will return to the forefront with a vengeance--forced pregnancies, bans that make zero exceptions for rape and incest, even imprisonment for abortion providers and women who seek them--imprisonment for women who seek them, which is already happening with some State laws.

Republicans are trying in vain to obscure this reality. Last week, the chair of the Senate Republican campaign arm went as far as releasing an absurd collection of talking points trying to convince Americans that, no, Republicans don't want to throw doctors and women in jail for carrying out abortions.

The Republicans should know their position is truly extreme when that has to be one of their talking points. Oh, no, we don't want to throw women in jail. But regardless of what Republicans or the head of the Senate Republican campaign committee might try and claim, the laws being passed at the State level tell a different, much darker story that totally contradicts what he says.

In Arizona, for example, there is a law on the books that states that anyone who performs an abortion could be sentenced to anywhere from 2 to 5 years in prison. The new law in Arizona provides zero exceptions for rape and for incest.

In Oklahoma, a new law just came into effect banning abortion as early as 6 weeks and, like the law in Texas, empowers citizens to police each other's conduct and sue women simply trying to access an abortion and, again, zero exceptions for rape, zero exceptions for incest. If, God forbid, a woman is raped and doesn't want to have that child, the Republicans want to allow some of them to go to jail and some of them to be sued by their fellow citizens. Is that

a disgrace? Is that scary? Does that say we all must fight this tooth and nail?

Now Republicans in Louisiana are even pushing a bill that could throw women and their healthcare providers in prison for life--for life.

This is the America that Senate Republicans have made possible--an America where women in many States could be forced to follow through on their pregnancies against their will; an America where abortions can be all but eliminated in more than half the States in the country; an America where many States provide zero exceptions for something as evil as rape or incest. These laws could put women and girls in serious danger. And none of this is theoretical anymore; it is written into the veracity of the laws that have been passed by the hard right at the State level. And we know more are coming.

All of this I bring to the feet of my Senate colleagues as we prepare to vote later this week. No more running. No more hiding. No more diversions. Leader McConnell can't talk about the actual effects of the law except when he made that one statement. Always diversions. Always about ``Oh, look what they are doing'' because they don't want the American people to know how hard right, how fiercely anti-women, how vicious some of their laws are.

I ask my colleagues to think carefully about their choice later this week. No more running. No more hiding. The vote will shine light on every single one of us. It will be like a floodlight, and we will each have to make our positions clear.

Again, I ask my colleagues to think carefully about their choice later this week because the consequences of this vote will stay with us for the rest of our time in office. The Nation will be watching. The rights of millions of American women are at stake, and they will be watching. And there will be no hiding from where each of us stands on this most precious, most private, most personal decision that women ever have had to make when it comes to their own lives.

I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, now, if a conservative majority on the Supreme Court proceeds with their abominable decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the rights and the freedoms of every woman in this country will face their greatest threat in generations.

Let's be clear. This is what the Republicans want. It is in the laws Republican politicians have passed across the country. But the American people are not on their side.

Today, I am announcing that next week, the U.S. Senate is going to vote on legislation to codify a woman's right to seek an abortion into Federal law. Let me repeat that. I am announcing that next week, the U.S. Senate is going to vote on legislation to codify a woman's right to seek an abortion into Federal law. I intend to file cloture on this vital legislation on Monday, which would set up a vote for Wednesday.

All week, we have been seeing Republicans try to duck, dodge, and dip from their responsibility for bringing Roe to the brink of total repeal. That is what they have been trying to do for decades. Next week, the American people will see crystal clear that when given the chance to right this wrong, the Republican Party will either side with the extremists who want to ban abortion without exceptions or side with women and with families and with the vast majority of Americans.

Next week's vote will be one of the most important we ever take because it deals with one of the most personal and difficult decisions a woman ever has to make in her life.

This is not an abstract exercise. My fellow Americans, it is as real and as urgent as it gets. Like my friend Patty Murray has said, this is a five-alarm fire.

Senate Republicans spent years packing our courts with rightwing judges. Will they now own up to the harm they have caused or will they try to undo the damage? The vote next week will tell. Let me say that again. Republicans spent years under Leader McConnell pushing rightwing judges to lifetime appointments to the bench. They stole the nomination of Merrick Garland, changed the rules of the Senate, and rammed through three hard-right, hard-ideological judges to the bench. They spent years encouraging radical legislatures as they passed scores of cruel restrictions on abortion. One of those laws is, unfortunately, about to be upheld in the Supreme Court.

Republicans can run, but they can't hide from the horror they have created.

Republicans can run, but they can't hide. They have two choices: They own it now or, miracle of miracles, try to begin to undo the damage.

Again, to my colleagues, to my fellow Americans, this is not an abstract exercise in the slightest. Do you know why that is true? Because the hard right is not treating it like an abstract exercise at all. In recent years, they have been racing, bolting to pass unhinged, cruel, anti-choice legislation that would catapult women's rights back into the stone age. They have been prepared for this moment for years.

The Mississippi law before the Supreme Court, for example, has zero-- zero--exceptions for rape or incest--a position that would have been regarded on the extreme of the extreme not too long ago. Imagine telling a woman who was raped that some White male politician is going to--White male judge is going to determine whether she has to continue to carry the child--fetus.

In Arizona, the Governor signed a law that could imprison anyone who ``provides, supplies, or administers'' an abortion by up to 5 years should Roe be overturned--again, no exception for rape, no exception for incest.

The infamous law in Texas, meanwhile, bans abortions as early as 6 weeks. Many women don't realize they are pregnant until after 6 weeks, and, again, no exception for rape, no exception for incest.

Unfortunately, these are not aberrations. Twenty-six States have laws on the books that would begin the process of banning abortions if Roe is overturned. Thirteen of these are trigger laws, meaning these bans would happen almost immediately after the Supreme Court decision.

This, it seems, is what the hard right wants--forced pregnancies, no exception for rape, no exception for incest. Republican politicians are telling America's women: Your body, our choice.

We cannot allow this vision of America to succeed. Come next week, Senate Republicans will have to answer for everything they have done over the years to embolden the hard right's hostility against a woman's choice. They have tried to hide what they are doing. They tried to downplay what they are doing. Those days are over.

You are coming clean--not clean, really, at all. Everyone is going to know what you have done and how you feel.

Leader McConnell can duck at press conferences when asked if he is happy to see Roe v. Wade go by the wayside, but he won't be able to duck it any longer.

So our view is that America cannot allow this vision of America to succeed. Come next week, Senate Republicans will have to answer for everything they have done over the years to embolden the hard right's hostility against a woman's choice. They will not be able to hide from the American people. They cannot hide their role in bringing Roe to an end. The vote will tell next week. America will be watching.

Mr. President, now on a different note, last night, the Senate took another important step towards finalizing our bipartisan jobs and competition legislation that has been in the works for over a year. I thank all my colleagues last night for voting swiftly to process 26 motions to instruct the conference committee. Many of these were done by voice, and I appreciate everyone's hard work. We sat in our seats. No one, at noon yesterday, with 26 motions to instruct, thought we would finish by 10 p.m. or even at any point yesterday, but we did. That is good work.

There is still a lot of work to do, of course, before we send the jobs bill to the President's desk, and I hope we will see the same bipartisan, good-faith work in the conference that we saw last night on the floor of the Senate. We all know that no one is going to get everything they want, but if we keep working together, I am confident we can come up with a strong final product.

Our jobs and competition bill is just what the doctor ordered to boost our economy, bring manufacturing jobs back home, and most of all, lower costs for American families.

It is great news for American families who want to see lower costs on daily essentials. It is great news for workers who want to see good- paying manufacturing jobs brought back from overseas. It is great news for our businesses that need help strengthening our supply chains. It is great news for our innovators, workers, scientists, universities, and creators who will help us create new technologies and generate the next wave of good-paying jobs in this century.

I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle who worked in good faith to help us reach this point.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.