Floor Statements

Now, Mr. President, we have come to an agreement here. I am going to read it in a minute, and I just want to say that we are going to try to have everyone sit in their seat. There are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 amendments. If we all sit in our seats and try to stick to the 10 minutes or as close as we can get to it, we can finish in 10 minutes. We can get this done quickly. If we all finish voting by 5, he can bang the gavel and get us to do it quicker than 10. OK?

(Applause.)

Thank you. That is the most Republican applause I have gotten in a little while. OK.

I ask unanimous consent that following the Kennedy amendment, the following amendments be the only amendments remaining in order; that the amendments be reported by number and the Senate vote in relation to the amendments in the order listed: Lee, 3141--Lee, the clerk; Inhofe, 3331; Daines, 3292; Hagerty, 3742; Hyde-Smith, 3568; Grassley, 3650; Sullivan, 3626; Cruz, 3681; Lee, 3815; Kennedy, 3753; further, that on the disposition of the Kennedy amendment, the last Kennedy amendment, the Senate vote on the adoption of S. Con. Res. 14, as amended, with no further intervening action or debate.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, my colleagues. Let's cooperate and finish this up.

Question.

Madam President, for my colleagues, the clerk is no longer going to recount, to save us a little time. I just urge my colleagues to please stay in your seats so we can move this along. Oh, and speak up when you are called. Is that what you mean? I have no trouble speaking loudly, as everyone knows here.

Madam President, we are about to vote on the budget resolution.

I remind my colleagues that we will have a vote very shortly thereafter on voting rights.

I thank the Presiding Officer.

Vote on S. Con. Res. 14, as Amended

Madam President, now, Senate Democrats have just taken a massive step toward restoring the middle class in the 21st century, giving more Americans the chance to get there.

Teddy Roosevelt said:

Nothing in [the] world is . . . worth doing unless it means

effort, pain, [and] difficulty.

What we are doing here is not easy. Democrats have labored for months to reach this point, and there are many labors to come, but I can say with absolute certainty that it will be worth doing.

The Democratic budget will bring a generational transformation to how our economy works for average Americans. It will cut taxes for American families; it will lower costs for everyone; it will create good-paying jobs while tackling climate change; and it will be paid for by making our Tax Code more progressive and more fair: asking corporations and the wealthy to pay their fair share; it will help middle-class Americans stay in the middle class; and it will build ladders into the middle class.

It will restore the basic social contract in America: If you work hard, you can do better and pass on even greater opportunities for your children.

And, in doing so, my friends, it will restore something in the American character that we have nearly lost: that hopeful optimism; that can-do attitude; that frontier spirit--eyes fixed on the horizons; the kindness and decency and faith in the future that is fundamental not only to the American spirit but to American democracy. I can think of no more worthy pursuit.

Now, even at this late hour, and before the conclusion of the session, this Chamber is going to take one more step in the fight to protect voting rights in this country.

In a moment, I will move to discharge the Rules Committee from further consideration of the For the People Act, a vehicle for the Senate to have a debate on voting rights.

It is my intention that the first amendment to the bill would be the text of a compromise bill that a group of Senators are working on.

Let me be very clear. This is a debate the Senate must have. In America today, we are witnessing the most sweeping and coordinated attacks on voting rights since the era of Jim Crow.

Reactionary Republican legislatures are making it harder for poorer, younger, and non-White Americans to vote, while at the same time making it easier for partisan actors to steal an election.

Senate Democrats are not going to stand by while this happens. We are going to fight to protect the sacred right to vote.

Now, before I make my motion, I yield to my colleague and friend from West Virginia.

Madam President, I thank my friend for his dedication to finding a way forward on this critical issue.

And now, pursuant to S. Res. 27, the Rules Committee being tied on the question of reporting, I move to discharge the Rules Committee from further consideration of S. 1, For the People Act of 2021.

And for the information of the Senate, it is my intention the first amendment to the bill would be the text of a compromise bill that a group of Senators are working on

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to yield all remaining time on both sides.

Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Now, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 2093, the For the People Act of 2021.

The Republican minority has just prevented the Senate from even having a debate--a debate; just that--on voting rights in this country.

I understand my Republican colleagues don't approve of every aspect of the Democratic bill to protect voting rights, but surely there are areas where our two parties can find some agreement. Partisan gerrymandering, for instance, has plagued our country for too long. It skews our democracy towards the extremes. It strips the American people of their right to have a truly representative government.

Voters ought to pick their politicians, not the other way around. But in so many States, partisan legislators draw maps that artificially maximize the number of seats that the majority party will win. Some districts are so safe that the most extreme candidates can run and win with hardly any competition.

Surely my Republican colleagues would agree that partisan gerrymandering deserves a debate on the Senate floor. It is a small part of S. 1 but one that has broad universal support--and the support, by the way, of all 49 of my Democratic colleagues.

So I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 2670, Calendar No. 119, the Redistricting Reform Act of 2021.

Mr. President.

So the American people should understand, Republicans just blocked the Senate from even debating legislation to end partisan gerrymandering and make our Congress more representative of the people.

Unanimous Consent Request--S. 2671

Mr. President, surely our Republican colleagues, however, would agree that billions of dollars in anonymous campaign donations every year is not a function of a healthy democracy. Surely they must agree that America's representatives should have only one boss--the people, not the special interests.

So I am going to ask the Senate now to debate a simple measure to bring a much needed transparency to campaign donations--just transparency, not even limits, although I would certainly support those. At the very least, the American people deserve to know who is trying to influence their representatives and how strenuously.

So I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 2671, Calendar No. 120, the DISCLOSE Act of 2021, which has the support of our entire caucus.

Mr. President, I object to the Senator from Texas's legislation. It is obvious to just about every American that it would make a bad situation even worse. So I object.

Mr. President, in conclusion, before I turn it over to some of my colleagues, Democrats have tried to do something very simple. We asked the Senate to start debate--just debate--on legislation to protect voting rights and strengthen our democracy. Republicans said no. Democrats have asked to debate a measure just to prevent partisan gerrymandering, and, then, frankly, in my colleague's response, he was all over the lot: It is good to have politicians do it; it is not good to have politicians do it. It is good to have judges do it; it is not good to have judges do it.

We would set standards to make sure that in a State like Wisconsin, where 53 percent of the people voted for a Democratic member of the State assembly, only a third of the districts were Democratic, drawn by a Republican legislature.

So Republicans have said no. They don't even want to debate these issues.

Democrats have asked to debate the measure to bring much needed transparency to campaign donations and get special interest dark money out of politics. Republicans still said no.

So let there be no mistake about what is going on here. We have reached a point in this Chamber where Republicans appear to oppose any measure--any measure--no matter how common sense, to protect voting rights and strengthen our democracy.

Let there be no mistake. Both inside this Chamber and outside of it, Republicans have formed a wall--a total wall--of opposition against progress on voting rights in the U.S. Senate. Even on an issue as sacred as the right to vote, Senate Republicans refuse to allow even a debate. They are afraid to debate.

Yesterday morning, we saw what it looks like when the Senate comes together. This is what it looks like when it doesn't. Apparently, there are very serious and important limits to bipartisanship. There are some issues where Republicans refuse to join us, in good faith, to make progress for our country.

I never thought I would see the day when voting rights, which used to be supported in a bipartisan way as recently as 2006, would be one of those issues. But that is what we have come to--total Republican intransigence when it comes to simple measures to make our democracy more perfect and strengthen the hand of the individual voter.

Now, let me be clear. Republicans refusing to support anything on voting rights is not an excuse for Democrats to do nothing. In recent weeks, I met with a number of Democratic Senators: Senators Klobuchar and Merkley, Manchin and Warnock and Padilla, Kaine, King, and Tester to discuss a compromise voting rights bill. We have made a great deal of progress on that legislation. We had a very good meeting as late recently as yesterday afternoon, and we intend to rally around it.

So, tonight, I am filing cloture on a vehicle to allow the Senate to take up the compromise voting rights bill. Voting rights--voting rights--will be the first matter of legislative business when the Senate returns to session in September. Our democracy demands no less.

I yield the floor. I yield to my colleague from Oregon and then my colleague from Rhode Island.

Mr. President, I must do a couple of procedural things.

But do my colleagues from Georgia and California want to speak on voting rights?

No. Thank you. I am sure the Senators from New Jersey and Connecticut are very grateful as well.

I will be brief.

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 64.

I send a cloture motion to the desk.

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

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 252.

I send a cloture motion to the desk.

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

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 260.

I send a cloture motion to the desk.

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

Mr. President, I move to proceed to executive session to consider Calendar No. 251.

I send a cloture motion to the desk.

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

Mr. President, I move to proceed to Calendar No. 77, S. 2093.

I send a cloture motion to the desk.

Finally, I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum calls for the cloture motions filed today, August 11, be waived.

Thank you.

I yield the floor.