Floor Statements

Madam President, yesterday, our colleagues from both sides of the aisle came together to announce an agreement on reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act, which was last acted on nearly a decade ago by this Chamber.

I want to commend my colleagues Senators Feinstein and Durbin, as well as Senators Ernst and Murkowski, for all the work they have done to bring us closer to reauthorizing VAWA.

I also want to thank my colleagues who are cosponsoring this legislation. And I have a particular interest because when I was in the House, I helped carry the original VAWA legislation that became law and has now lapsed.

Most importantly, I want to thank every single person who participated in yesterday's press conference who shared their own experiences of abuse.

The Violence Against Women Act is one of the most important laws passed by Congress in the last 30 years, and it is my hope that the Senate can take action on this bill in the near future.

There are nine Republicans cosponsoring this legislation so we need one more, at least, in order to clear a path forward.

If we can find more support for VAWA, I would expect that the Senate will seek to take action.

VAWA must be reauthorized. We cannot allow inaction to persist for a moment longer, and with yesterday's bipartisan announcement, we are closer than ever to achieving that goal.

Madam President, now on postal, there is one more sign of progress this week that I want to mention, another bipartisan effort like VAWA and like all of the other bills I have mentioned--arbitration and the CR--and this is the bipartisan efforts by both Chambers to pass the most significant postal reform bill in decades.

Later today--soon--I will file cloture on the postal reform bill approved overwhelmingly by the House earlier this week. For the information of all Senators, this will set up the first vote this coming Monday evening.

Postal reform has been decades in the making and is one of the best steps we can take to strengthen one of our country's most important institutions. Tens of millions of Americans depend on the post office every day. Seniors and veterans need it for things like medication. Businesses need it to function. Rural communities need it to stay connected. Countless people rely on the post office to connect with each other for things like birthdays, travel, the holidays, or any one of life's many, many special occasions.

By passing postal reform, we can ensure that Americans will continue to rely on a speedy, dependable, and well-run post office. We have all heard complaints about how the mail delivery has slowed down. This is a strong, important effort to rectify that bad problem. It will be a win for everyday Americans and for the dedicated men and women who work to deliver our mail every single day.

Madam President, finally, on cannabis legislation. All of these issues I have mentioned--forced arbitration reform, appropriations, VAWA, and postal reform--have been bipartisan efforts. They reflect a commitment that Democrats made at the start of the year to work with the other side when the opportunities presented themselves, and I thank my Republican colleagues for working with us. Before I close, there is one more appeal I want to make for bipartisan cooperation, and that is on cannabis reform.

This morning, I joined with Senators Booker and Wyden in sending a ``Dear Colleague,'' inviting Members from both sides of the aisle to join in an effort to draft and finalize comprehensive cannabis reform. Last summer, I joined with Senators Booker and Wyden in introducing our framework legislation for Federal reform of cannabis, and we want to build on this framework as we prepare to introduce legislation in the near future.

Today, millions--hundreds of millions of Americans live in States, both blue and red, where cannabis has been legalized in some way. It is long past time for the Federal Government to catch up.

This is about individual freedom and about basic fairness. For decades, Federal cannabis laws have caused immense damage to millions of Americans, particularly Black and Hispanic people, who have been unfairly targeted by these laws. We need to change that. We need to create opportunities for entrepreneurs and small businesses to legitimately pursue new opportunities, and comprehensive Federal cannabis legislation is critical--critical--to reaching that goal.

I want to thank Senators Booker and Wyden and all my colleagues who have worked with us on this important and long-overdue change. I hope we can make more progress on cannabis reform in the near future.

Madam President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 266,

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

Madam President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 668.

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

Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Finally, Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, Thursday, February 10, be waived.

Madam President, I understand there is a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading.

Madam President, in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I will object to further proceedings.

Sure, please.

Mr. President, first, let me compliment my colleague from New York. Her persistence, her intelligence, her determination and passion to change the law so these injustices, which occur so many times that we don't know about, will no longer be there is so vital.

So thank you for a job well done.

Thanks to my colleague Senator Graham, the lead Republican sponsor, who, when he gets behind something, it gets done. So I want him behind more things with us in the future.

And to Senator Ernst, who is not here, she has been a great leader on this as well. And when we met in my office with Senator Graham, Senator Ernst was very amenable to getting this done.

It is an outrage, just an outrage, that women and men who are abused cannot seek justice, are forced to be quiet, are forced to keep the agony inside themselves. It is outrageous.

For decades, this forced arbitration has just deprived millions of people, almost all women, from basic rights to justice. We need justice in so many areas, but when you can't seek justice when you are harassed, it is just one of the greatest marks of injustice, one of the greatest times of injustice.

The good news about this legislation is all the clauses that people already signed in their employment contracts, even when they didn't know about it, will no longer be valid. So it not only affects the future but affects those who signed in the past.

If you could ever say that any legislation is long overdue, this is it. It is time for a change. And moments from now, the Senate will finally act to make forced arbitration for sexual harassment and assault a thing of the past.

We are now going to voice vote this wonderful, needed legislation.

Call the question.

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

Mr. President, before I get into my remarks, just some brief housekeeping.

Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I understand that there are three bills at the desk due for a second reading en bloc.

Mr. President, in order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceedings en bloc.

Mr. President, those are all bills that we hope to move forward, and so that is why I have rule XIV'd them.

Mr. President, yesterday, by a margin--a large margin-- of 342 to 92, Congress took the first steps toward creating the most important upgrade to our post office in decades by passing a bipartisan reform package that has been years in the making.

With an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote in the House, it is my intention for the Senate to quickly take up and pass this bipartisan, bicameral Postal reform bill. We hope to take action here on the floor and pass the bill before we go to the Presidents Day recess.

The post office is, quite simply, one of the most important institutions of American life. Every day, tens of millions of Americans, veterans, small businesses, people living in rural communities, seniors rely on the Postal Service for their medicines and prescriptions, for getting essential goods, for voting, for correspondence, for their livelihoods, and to get close to one another on special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries and things like that.

But, nevertheless, our Postal Service has needed reform for over a decade. Its budgets are severely strained, its delivery services are overwhelmed, and the

disruptions unleashed by the internet have made it harder for it to meet its obligations to the American people and to its own employees.

Every one of us has heard objections about letters arriving far too late. In many instances, whether they be checks that people depend on for their livelihoods or prescription drugs or whatever, these complaints are growing and growing and growing.

The bipartisan Postal reform bill offers a much needed reset. It will guarantee delivery services continue 6 days a week; it will put the post office on a path back towards solvency; and it will ensure that we take care of our dedicated Postal workers while also saving the post office over $50 billion.

Let me summarize again. If this legislation is passed, it would ensure continued 6-day delivery service, make deliveries more efficient and timely, and will put the post office on a path to stability.

I want to recognize my colleagues who have made it possible for this legislation to move forward. First, I thank my friend and colleague Senator Peters, chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, for his leadership in bringing this bill together.

I also want to thank Ranking Member Portman for working across the aisle on this commonsense reform bill.

And I want to thank all my House colleagues who worked assiduously for a long, long time pushing for portal reform. Both the chair and the ranking member of the relevant committees supported the bill on the floor of the House yesterday.

I have always said Democrats will work on a bipartisan basis whenever we can pass commonsense legislation that will improve the lives of the American people.

Last year, bipartisan cooperation helped clear the way for such things as the historic Anti-Asian Hate Crimes bill, a much needed competition bill, and our bipartisan infrastructure package.

This work period alone, we have already made great progress on bipartisan priorities, like ending forced arbitration for sexual harassment and assault. As I have mentioned, we will soon act on the post office.

And I expect both sides will support passage of the short-term CR that will keep the Federal Government open before next week's deadline.

I want to thank the appropriators from both sides of the aisle for working in good faith, and I am optimistic that soon they will arrive at an agreement for an omnibus package, which is far more preferable to the alternative of a yearlong CR.

We are getting very, very close to coming to an agreement on top-line numbers, and as I said, I am more optimistic than I have been in a very long time that we will get an omnibus bill done for government spending for the rest of the year.

So all these priorities--forced arbitration, Postal reform, and government funding--are bipartisan items that I expect the Senate will act on before the recess.

As I have always said from my first day as majority leader, we will work in a bipartisan way whenever we can. We did it in our first year with things like the Anti-Asian hate crimes legislation, the competition bill, and the bipartisan infrastructure package. And these 2 weeks now represent a productive continuation of that commitment.

So on this issue, I am optimistic that very soon we will see the first major reform of America's Postal system in decades. It will be a win for our dedicated Postal workers and for the American people who rely on the post office every single day.

Mr. President, on forced arbitration, before the end of the week, it is my intention to have the Senate take action on one of the most important workplace reforms that we have seen in decades--eliminating forced arbitration for sexual harassment and assault.

Yesterday, I sat down with my Republican colleagues, Senators Lindsey Graham and Joni Ernst, and we worked out an agreement on a few outstanding issues that will clear the path for the Senate, we believe, to hold a vote very soon on this issue. I want to thank them for their good faith and cooperation. And I especially want to thank my friend and colleague from New York, Senator Gillibrand, for being the leader on this important issue for so, so long.

For decades, it has been common practice for employers to tuck arbitration clauses into the fine print of employment contracts. Today, these clauses effectively function as preconditions for getting hired to a new job. Most workers may not even realize what they have signed on to until it is too late, after the fact.

Today, we can no longer ignore that forced arbitration has proven immensely harmful when it comes to sexual harassment and sexual assault. When workers--almost always women--face abuse or harassment at the hands of their employers, forced arbitration immediately limits their options for remedy. The deck is stacked against them from the start, and thus abusers rarely face true accountability. That is awful and must change.

And all of it is going to change very soon. By passing bipartisan legislation to end forced arbitration for sexual harassment and assault, we will ensure that those who face abuse will have the freedom to exercise their basic right to pursue action against harmful employers in court. This is long, long overdue, and I want to commend both sides for working together to getting us close to the finish line. I expect we will hold a vote on this to pass this legislation in the very near future, and the benefits of the legislation will be felt across the country and last for a very, very long time.

Bottom line, ending forced arbitration for sexual harassment and assault is about making our workplaces safer, holding abusive employers accountable, and making sure that every American can exercise their right to seek justice in a court of law.

Mr. President, finally, on Senate business, concerning the activity on the floor today, the Senate is going to have another busy workday as we continue confirming Presidential nominations to the administration and onto the Federal bench.

Today, three rollcall votes are scheduled on the nominations of both the head of the U.S. International Development Finance Corp and the President's pick for Assistant Secretary of the Army.

But tonight we are very likely to add additional rollcall votes to complete the confirmation of several pending nominations. These votes will likely take us into the early evening, but they are necessary in order to confirm nominees.

I will add that until this past year, these nominees almost always have been approved through unanimous consent. Unfortunately, a few people on the other side are holding it up and making us vote on each of these, but vote we must.

Once again, though, to move things along, I ask my colleagues to cast their votes quickly tonight, to remain in their seats or near the floor as much as possible, and to be flexible in order to help move things along as quickly as possible on the Senate floor, as we did last week.

We did a good job voting efficiently last week despite the large number of votes. So I ask everyone to continue at that pace tonight as needed.