Floor Statements

Mr. President, on a very related issue, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, last night, I took the necessary procedural steps to set up a vote on Wednesday in the Senate on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Tomorrow, the Senate is going to take a first vote on whether or not we debate--merely debate--a bill to reinstate the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act, which has long had bipartisan support in this Chamber--bipartisan support--in the past.

Our democracy relies on the guarantee of free and fair elections to survive, but across the country, we are witnessing a coordinated assault on the right to vote and even on how elections are conducted, tallied, and potentially decided--a true threat to the ultimate foundation of our democracy.

In the past, preclearance helped put a check on the worst abuses from the States, but a conservative majority on the Supreme Court in 2013, in one of the worst decisions in recent memory, effectively crippled preclearance, wrongly suggesting that it was no longer needed. We have seen how wrong that decision was in the years since 2013 and particularly now. Boy, were they wrong. In the years since that decision, the floodgates have opened for some of the most draconian restrictions to the franchise that we have seen since the era of segregation.

The clock is ticking for the Senate to stop these attacks. Starting next year, State legislatures will return to session, and many will surely build on the flurry of restrictive laws we are already seeing in States like Georgia and Texas. So if there is any issue that deserves debate in this Chamber, it should be protecting voting rights.

The Voting Rights Act has long enjoyed bipartisan support in this Chamber. Nixon, Reagan, and Bush all signed into law updates to the legislation. In

fact, many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle proudly previously worked on and supported passage of those updates, including preclearance provisions. It should be no different today.

For months, Senate Democrats have bent over backwards to find common ground with Republicans on the critical issue of protecting the freedom to vote. We have urged Senate Republicans to engage, to offer their ideas, to come together to guarantee free and fair elections to all Americans. I have made clear time and time again: Democrats are open for business; we want Republicans to engage. I am prepared to offer an open and honest, full-fledged process here on the Senate floor tomorrow, where Republican amendments will be made in order and allowed and debated, but for that to happen, Republicans must come to the table when we vote tomorrow. We can't force so much as a debate if at least 10 Republicans don't join us and vote in favor of letting the Senate do its work on this most important, this most vital of issues.

Senate Republicans shouldn't be afraid of merely starting debate on an issue we have long debated in this body and long supported in a bipartisan way in the past. If they have different ideas on how to achieve a stronger democracy, they owe it to the American people to come forward and debate their ideas. Simply standing silent with their arms crossed, refusing to allow the Senate to function, is unacceptable.

Mr. President, I am going to start with a mask because it is a message to all of America: Vote. Today is voting day. Please vote. If you haven't voted already, make sure you vote.

Mr. President, now on Build Back Better, today, Democrats in the House and Senate continue making progress on passing President Biden's Build Back Better plan. Last night, I held another round of talks with my leadership team, with the Speaker, with the White House. With many, we are discussing so many issues, including moving forward on prescription drugs. We are moving ahead, we are working through the outstanding details, and we remain committed to getting something big done for the American people.

Nobody is getting everything they hoped for in the final deal, but Build Back Better will have things that everyone--everyone--wanted. Even as we continue finalizing the text, the President's framework already--already--has done very good and important things that will dramatically improve the lives of everyday Americans. It makes historic progress on childcare, pre-K, fighting climate change, providing tax cuts for the middle class, housing, and more.

In years past, passing any one of these items would have been considered a huge step forward for the country. Now, we are working to get them all done at once, and we will continue making progress.

The framework's provisions on childcare alone would be the largest in American history. Our country's need for childcare has grown dramatically since the 20th century. According to the Treasury Department, in fact, the average cost of caring for a young child hovers around $10,000 a year. Many people pay more for childcare than they pay for their mortgage. Ten thousand dollars a year is simply out of reach for far too many families.

Not only do our kids suffer when they can't have somewhere safe to stay, our families suffer when they can't enter the workforce, and ultimately our country suffers as our economy's productivity is diminished.

Build Back Better, with its unprecedented investments to help families better afford childcare, would finally provide parents the help they have needed for decades.

That is just one example. American families under this framework will for the first time also have access to universal pre-K for 3- and 4- year-olds across the country. It also extends the child tax credit passed earlier this year so parents can better afford things like groceries and diapers and utilities and other daily essentials. Since its enactment, this program alone has already cut poverty--child poverty--in half in this country. That is an amazing accomplishment and one that will continue to go forward under this proposal.

So President Biden's Build Back Better framework is a historic step forward for families, but that is not all. The framework would also make bold investments to tackle the climate crisis.

The consequences of climate change are already severe. Every time we face another major heat wave, it endangers the lives of Americans who work outdoors. Every time another hurricane hits the east coast or the South, it risks destroying people's homes and schools and churches and small businesses. Every time another wildfire rages in the West, it fills the air with poisonous smoke that entire cities breathe in, consequences yet unknown.

Build Back Better would help our country fight this climate threat with unprecedented investments in clean manufacturing, clean transportation, clean electricity, and clean buildings, so we can cut our emissions, make our communities healthier, and lead the world by the power of our example. While there still would be much, much more work needed to protect our planet, this framework is a bold step in the right direction.

Now, of course, even as we continue to negotiations, the President's Build Back Better framework contains many other good things. It will help Americans keep a safe and stable roof over their heads with long- sought investments in new affordable housing, as well as ensuring that we keep housing affordable for low- and moderate-income families.

I have been working night and day with my colleagues in both Chambers and the White House to make progress on lowering the costs of prescription drugs. I am very hopeful there will be an agreement as early as today that will include landmark reforms sought by the American people and the Democratic Party for decades.

For the first time, Medicare will be empowered to negotiate prescription drug prices in Part B and Part D. There will be an annual cap on out-of-pocket costs, a new monthly cap on the price of insulin, and an ``inflation'' rebate policy to protect consumers from egregious annual increases in prices.

These policies are common sense and overwhelmingly supported by the American people. The deal will finally lower the costs of prescription drugs for seniors and working families. It doesn't do everything I would want or many of us would want, but it takes a big step forward.

All the while, Build Back Better will be fully paid for and will ultimately relieve our Nation's inflationary pressures. Don't take my word for it. Many leading economists have made clear that this legislation would improve--not worsen--inflation in the country. There are a lot of good things in this framework, and Democrats are moving forward to get a final agreement and this bill over the finish line.

Nobody said that transformative legislation of this scale would be easy, quick, or simple, but we remain committed to meeting our ultimate goal of helping working- and middle-class families achieve the American dream in the 21st century.

We want to help those in the middle class stay there. They are worried about their future and the future of their children. We want to help those struggling to get to the middle class get there more easily by building ladders that they can climb. It is so important we get this done. This is the best opportunity we have had in a long time to make that a reality, so we will continue marching ahead.

Finally, very quickly, on judges. Mr. President, here is a number that everyone watching the work of the Senate should take note of: 28.

That is the number of Federal judges that, after yesterday's confirmations of Beth Robinson and Toby Heytens, the Senate has confirmed in a time of 9 months since President Biden took the oath of office: 28 judges--19 to serve on district courts, 9 to serve as appellate judges.

And the vast majority of these new judges are people of color, a majority of them being women, and many from backgrounds that have long been overlooked in selection of our Nation's judges.

This is more judges put in this period of time, the first year--the first 9 months of the President's--10 months of the President's first term--than has happened in a very long time.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 312.

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

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, thank you. I have some brief remarks, and I want to thank my friend, the Senator from New Jersey, who will move in a few moments to have this Chamber approve a number of critical nominees for our national security and is going to be, shamefully, blocked.

He has been a great fighter not only for these men and women, but on foreign policy in general, one of the great leaders. And his passion for this issue comes from a desire to have us have the greatest strength abroad diplomatically and geopolitically as well. So I cannot thank him enough.

Mr. President, of all the mandates of the government, the most important is

protecting the American people from threats foreign or domestic. To do so, the President relies on an army of dedicated public servants--our expert Ambassadors, Diplomats, Under Secretaries, and Assistant Secretaries, who play a critical role in our government.

But for months, Senate Republicans have gone to great lengths to place pointless holds on over 100 of these nominees. The consequence is scores of empty desks in the State Department and in our Embassies and the Department of the Treasury and other Agencies.

These nominees are not controversial. They are routinely confirmed by consent in this Chamber, until a few people decided that they wanted to make a big show of this for whatever reason. No one ever did this before. No one ever did this--maybe one individual nominee here or there, but not all of the nominees. It is so risky to the security of the United States.

By this point in the Trump administration, for instance, both sides worked together to confirm 32 Ambassadors by voice vote. Most of us didn't like the Trump administration or the people he was appointing, but we had enough integrity, enough faith in the future of this country and the strength of this country not to let politics enter into what had been routine decisions.

Right now, Republican obstructionism has meant only four nominees have been agreed to. So the bottom line is--let me be clear-- Republicans who are holding up these nominees are endangering our national security, making it harder for our country to respond to threats at home and abroad.

We hear a lot of talk about national security on the other side, but what it comes down to is that they are preventing 32 State Department nominees and 10 Defense Department nominees for quick confirmation. That is wrong, and I would hope that they would think about it and let these fine people go through the way that has been done under Democratic and Republican administrations in the past.

Mr. President, of all the mandates of government, the most important is protecting the American people from all threats, foreign and domestic. To do so, the President relies on an army of dedicated public servants: our expert diplomats, ambassadors, Under Secretaries, and Assistant Secretaries who play a critical role in our government.

But for months, some Senate Republicans have gone to great lengths to place pointless holds on over 100 of these nominees. The consequence has been scores of empty desks in the State Department, in our embassies, in the Department of the Treasury and countless other agencies.

These nominees are not controversial; they are routinely confirmed by consent in this Chamber. By this point in the Trump Administration, both sides worked together to confirm 32 ambassadors by voice vote. But right now, Republican obstruction has meant only four such nominees have been agreed to.

Let me be clear: Republicans who are holding up these nominees are endangering our national security and making it harder for our country to respond to threats at home and abroad.

Our Republican counterparts always like to talk a good game on national security concerns, but when it comes down to it they are preventing 32 State Department nominees and at least 10 Department of Defense nominees from quick confirmation. All of these are career national security professionals who are eager to return to public service and project American strength abroad.

This is not how the Senate normally works to process these dedicated public servants. Indeed, a number of our colleagues on the other side have complained that the Senate is taking up a lot of time processing these individuals.

If Republicans take issue with the amount of time we are taking, they should speak with their own members who are directly prolonging the process through their obstruction. Republicans could decide right now to allow these nominees to go by consent.

This Chamber, under this leadership, is not tolerating a few Members who want to muck up the confirmation process just to make a scene.

In the weeks and months to come we are going to work through these nominees as long as it takes. I hope that our Republican colleagues immediately drop their objections and give President Biden the officials he needs in place to keep the American people safe.

I yield the floor.

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

Madam President, last week, President Biden unveiled a framework for his Build Back Better plan that will make historic investments to help millions of working- and middle-class families achieve the American dream in the 21st century while taking new and bold steps to tackle the climate crisis.

Over the weekend, I continued diligent, assiduous negotiations with my Senate colleagues, the Speaker, and the White House as Congress prepares to take action on the President's proposals. We are still talking and working through important details and making good progress, and I want to thank all my colleagues for their diligence, their expertise, and their commitment to getting something done.

As I have always said, nobody is going to get everything they want in the deal, but we will have some things that everyone wants. Even as legislative text continues to get finalized, the framework itself already contains very, very good and important things that will make a tremendous difference in the lives of the American people. It will help the middle class stay in the middle class. It will help those struggling to get to the middle class get there a little more easily. It will really help Americans in ways that Washington has not helped Americans in quite a few years.

One way it will help is childcare. Tens of millions of American families struggle with the unaffordable cost of taking care of their children. For some families, childcare can cost over $10,000 a year, forcing parents to make the painful choice between going to work and looking after their kids. The consequences for our economy, with its shortage of workers, for parents, and for our kids are severe and long- lasting.

The framework, with its historic investments in childcare and universal pre-K, would finally--finally--provide working- and middle- class families with the urgently needed help they need so parents, particularly women, can enter the workplace, earn a living, and not worry about whether their kids are being well taken care of.

The President's framework also makes long-overdue progress in the fight against climate change. It contains the largest investment to address the climate crisis in American history.

American families from one coast to the other are in desperate need of relief from the consequences of climate change. Wildfires in the West make it harder for people to breathe, especially those with conditions like asthma. Flooding in the Midwest destroys crops and homes and local economies and poisons fragile ecosystems and even the safety of drinking water. Extreme storms in the winter make it harder for those without proper heating to stay safe, as we saw tragically in Texas. Of course, the hurricanes and tropical storms on the east coast have caused regular flooding, the likes of which we haven't seen in a long time occurring as recently in the Mid-Atlantic as this weekend.

We have an opportunity--a real opportunity--to take unprecedented action to protect Americans against these threats. While there will be so much more to do, this is a bold step in the right direction. As the President spoke before the world today in Glasgow, his framework is proof the United States is ready to once again lead by example against the greatest existential crisis of our time.

There is so much more to like in this framework. As I have said repeatedly, when this bill is passed, it will be fully paid for and reduce--reduce--inflationary pressures--something that has

been affirmed by many, many economists. It will be fully paid for and, at the same time, will reduce some of the bottlenecks and high costs that people have. It will lower people's costs in many ways. Particularly, we are making regular progress to lower prescription drug prices as we work to refine the agreement.

The framework will also make healthcare more affordable, cut taxes for working and middle-class Americans, and most importantly, provide long-sought ladders for families to climb up to the middle class and give them the stability needed to stay in the middle class once they get there.

It will lower costs for people in many different ways--one of our main goals. This will be just what the American people need, and it will not be--will not be--inflationary.

So the announcement last week from the President brought us one step closer toward our goal of delivering help to the American people at every stage of their lives. We are going to keep working this week to get this legislation over the finish line. Democrats are committed to rewarding the trust that the American people have placed in us.

Now, Madam President, on judges and nominations, last week, the Senate confirmed seven--seven--more judges to serve lifetime appointments on the Federal bench.

Just about all of them were people of color; all but two were women. Among them were more Federal defenders, civil rights lawyers, election experts. They will bring sorely needed diversity to the judiciary--not just personal diversity or demographic diversity, as important as that is, but professional diversity as well, adding to the breadth and width and depth of knowledge possessed by the courts.

It is no longer a bench that we are appointing that is simply prosecutors or partners in large law firms, but many, many others from walks of life with different and needed perspectives on the Federal bench.

Today, we are going to pick up right where we left off. Later this afternoon, we will vote to confirm Beth Robinson, of Vermont, to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and Toby Heytens to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

A former clerk to the late Justice Ginsburg, Mr. Heytens is a veteran of the Justice Department and is the current Solicitor General of the Commonwealth of Virginia. He is regarded by both sides of the aisle as a superbly skilled lawyer and an impartial thinker.

In Justice Robinson, who has spent 10 distinguished years on the Vermont State Supreme Court, the Senate is presented with another experienced, dedicated, and historic nominee. She would be the very first openly gay woman to serve not just in the Second Circuit, but in any Federal circuit court in the country--another barrier torn down in the halls of justice. We are proud of tearing down those barriers and making the bench more inclusive and more like America. I look forward to her confirmation today.

In the weeks and months to come, Senate Democrats will continue pressing ahead to bring balance back to our Federal courts with diverse, mainstream, qualified, and impartial jurists.

Now, Madam President, on the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and cloture, the fight to protect our democracy from voter suppression and election subversion continues in the U.S. Senate. Later this evening, I will file cloture on the motion to proceed to the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, setting up a vote to take place on Wednesday.

This bill, which my friends, Senators Leahy and Durbin, worked assiduously to put together, will restore the key protections of the Voting Rights Act--the crowning achievement of the civil rights era-- that were wrongly gutted in one of the worst decisions the Supreme Court has made in a long time--in 2013, the Shelby decision--done by a conservative majority on the Court.

Specifically, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would update the preclearance protections that prohibited States with records of voter suppression from making changes to election law without Federal approval.

Recent history makes absolutely clear that we need these protections on the books. Thanks to the Shelby decision, we now live in an era of increased voter suppression in the United States. After that decision, States like Texas and North Carolina, sadly, sprang into action to make it harder for minority, younger, and lower income people to vote. Many more States followed years later, and we are suffering the consequences of that decision to this day.

Few of the Justices had thought, I believe, that we didn't need these preclearances because there is no more voter discrimination. Lord, were they wrong. We must reverse their awful Shelby decision.

If there is anything that merits debate here in the Senate, it is protecting the precious right of Americans to participate in our elections. Since its original passage, the Voting Rights Act has been updated five times--five times--with support from both Democrats and Republicans. We should, likewise, proceed this time around on this time-honored measure.

I want to make clear: If the Senate votes to proceed on to the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, I am prepared to offer a full- fledged debate befitting this great Chamber. Republicans will be given the chance to raise their objections, to offer amendments, and to make changes to the bill. I know that both parties have serious disagreements on this important issue, so we want to hear from the other side what they propose. But for that to happen, we need to start debate first; we need to vote to allow the Senate to work through its process; we need 60 votes simply to say we will debate this issue. We will get a chance to see what happens this week.

Time is really getting short for the Senate to take action on voting rights before Americans go to the polls in the 2022 elections. It is essential that we restore preclearance protections before the start of next year, when States are set to consider another round of restrictive voting rights laws when their legislative sessions start in the spring.

Indeed, the dangerous and draconian Republican laws we have seen in 2021 are only the beginning if this body doesn't take action, and they are a very serious threat to our democracy--one of the greatest threats to democracy that has come around in a long time.

So I hope both parties will proceed on legislation that has long enjoyed bipartisan support in this Chamber. Our democracy demands we act.

I yield the floor.

Madam President, in 1 minute, I will be filing cloture on the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, but I am going to give a short, brief remark before I do that.

Now, tonight, I am filing cloture on a motion to proceed on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. That means that the Senate is going to take a first vote on whether or not we even debate this voting rights bill--even debate it--on Wednesday.

Our democracy relies on the guarantee of free and fair elections. Across the country, we are witnessing a coordinated assault on the integrity of our electoral process. We must advance critical reforms to protect the freedom to vote, fulfilling the life and the legacy of our late colleague John Lewis.

If there is any issue that deserves debate in this Chamber, it is protecting voting rights. I know that both parties have differences on this important issue, but Republicans shouldn't be afraid to debate the bill.

If the Senate votes to open debate to this bill, I am prepared to offer an open and honest and full-fledged process here on the Senate floor, where Republican amendments will be made in order and allowed and debated.

If Republican Senators have different ideas on how to achieve a stronger democracy, they owe it to the American people to come forward and debate their ideas. Simply standing silent with their arms crossed, refusing to allow the Senate to function, is unacceptable.

Madam President, I move to proceed to legislative session.

Madam President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 143,

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

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum call for the cloture motion filed today, November 1, be waived.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.