Floor Statements

Would my colleague yield for a question?

Madam President, every day that I have the honor of coming to work in the hallowed halls of this building--a symbol to the country and to the world of America's commitment to liberty and to justice, freedom, and democracy--I am humbled. I am humbled by the faith and responsibility that the people of Oregon have placed in me to advocate on their behalf. I am humbled by the responsibility of exercising the power of this office to use the opportunity to lift up all Americans, to create a foundation for families to thrive, to tackle significant challenges like human rights and global warming.

But among all these responsibilities one is the highest, which is to defend our constitutional Republic, and in that Constitution, the single most important power given to every American is the right to a voice and a vote, a voice and a vote in the decisions of this government and the direction of our Nation.

As we saw all too clearly on January 6, when this very building was attacked by a mob intent on burning the ballots of millions of Americans, democracy based on free and fair elections is far from guaranteed. Each generation, each new set of Senators and House Members has the responsibility to defend it anew.

The sad truth, however, is that a violent mob storming the Capitol isn't the only way to attack our democracy. It can also be attacked by the quiet plotting of powerful and privileged individuals who hate the concept of government of, by, and for the people, and they work to undermine and corrupt the workings of our Republic to produce, instead, government by and for the powerful.

In his inaugural address, our second President, John Adams, remarked that, ``we should be unfaithful to ourselves if we should ever lose sight of the danger to our liberties if anything partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections.''

Well, my friends, our democracy--our elections are being infected. Our elections are under siege from gerrymandering, which destroys the principle of equal representation. Our system is under siege from dark money, enabling billionaires and powerful corporations to buy our elections. It is under siege by State laws being passed week to week right now that target specific communities to prevent them from voting, thereby manipulating the outcome of elections.

Indeed, at least 22 laws have been enacted in 14 States since January to infect our free and fair elections to deliberately erect barriers meant to make it harder for targeted groups of Americans to vote, to silence the voices of students and low-income Americans, of Native Americans and seniors, of Black and Brown Americans who have fought too long and too hard to have their voice and their vote stolen from them, ripped from them now.

We have a responsibility as United States Senators to ensure every American's freedom to vote, just as this institution sought to do more than half a century ago, when in this Chamber we passed the 1965 Voting Rights Act. We have a responsibility to ensure that every American's voice is heard and that our elections reflect the will of the people.

We can fulfill that responsibility by enacting national standards for voting to ensure that every American can have a say in the key decisions impacting their daily lives, a ``say'' expressed through the ballot box.

That ballot box is the beating heart of our Republic, and those who seek to erect barriers to citizens having access to it are committing a crime against our democracy. We have to stop that criminal action against the rights of Americans. We must create those national standards by taking up this bill, the For the People bill, debating it, and ultimately passing it, to defend our Constitution.

The For the People Act is comprehensive. It does popular, commonsense things to put the American people back in charge of their government and their country. It sets national standards so every American has equal freedom to vote, no matter where they live. In this country, if you are an American, you have the right to vote, plain and simple, full stop. It doesn't matter what your ZIP code is or your income or the color of your skin or your religious beliefs. You have the right to vote.

Many of the State laws restricting voting are designed to eliminate early voting--in person or by mail--and we know exactly why. It is because the

leaders in these States know how easy it is to manipulate the vote on election day. In these targeted communities, the States' leaders wants to be able to decrease the number of polling places, reduce the hours, change the locations, put polling places in locations with limited parking, put out false information about the date of the election, and purge targeted voters from the roll of registered voters, knowing that when they show up on election day, it is too late to correct the error and be able to exercise their right to vote.

The antidote to these horrendous, racist attacks on the freedom and right of every American to vote is early voting in person and by mail, and this act guarantees 15 days of early voting. It sets forth the opportunity to acquire an absentee ballot, to return the ballot by mail or through dedicated dropboxes.

The second big goal in national standards set forth in the For the People Act is to stop billionaires from buying elections. Elections in America are intended to reflect the will of the people, not the will of the powerful and privileged. Thomas Jefferson once described this as the ``mother principle,'' saying that ``governments are republican only in proportion to how they embody the will of the people.''

If the megawealthy can flood our campaigns with billions of dollars sent through shell companies, untraceable money, and manipulate the outcome of the elections, then Jefferson's mother principle is murdered because the outcome serves the powerful, not the people.

The For the People Act says the people should have an equal chance of being heard and that the people listening ought to know who is actually behind those voices and those messages. It does that by creating an ``honest ads'' policy so political ads people see online have to disclose who is paying for them, and it does that by requiring the disclosure of megadonors contributing to political campaigns.

Now, if you or I give a modest donation to a campaign, that campaign has to disclose who we are. Shouldn't the same thing that is true for an average American be true for the megadonors? This standard sets that equal standard.

Third, the national standards set forth in this bill restore equal representation by ending gerrymandering, the process by which we draw congressional districts to favor one party over another and, by doing so, attack the sacred principle of equal representation.

This creates a lot of bias in the House of Representatives down the hall. Take Michigan. In 2012, 2014, and 2016, the majority of the Michiganders voted for one party at every level of government, but because of gerrymandering, the other party held a decisive advantage in the statehouse, in the State senate, and in the congressional House delegation.

The For the People Act defends, restores the principle of equal representation. It does it by creating independent redistricting commissions, made up equally of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents. That means candidates running for office actually have to use the power of their ideas, the persuasion of their personality, not a rigged system to hold power.

Finally, the standards in this bill target corruption by addressing and eliminating conflicts of interest. Public servants should serve the public, not themselves. That includes Members of Congress, the administration, and for the first time ever, the Supreme Court. This bill does that by striking down outrageous and corrupt conflicts of interest, strengthening divestment requirements, saying that the President and Vice President have to use a blind trust or limit their personal holdings to assets that don't pose a potential conflict of interest.

It slows the revolving door between public service and K Street. It requires Cabinet Secretaries to recuse themselves from any issues in which a previous employer or client has a financial interest.

The bill requires candidates for Vice President or President to disclose their tax returns to prevent hidden conflicts of interest. It creates a code of ethics for the Supreme Court, something all other Federal judges already have.

None of these four principles is about helping one political party over the other. In fact, the provisions I have just laid out are wildly popular among the American people. An overwhelming supermajority of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents support these four principles. It is as bipartisan as you can get.

Even when it is broke into specific provisions, three out of four Americans--Democrats, Republicans, Independents--say they support these reforms because they believe in the vision of government of, by, and for the people. It is in our DNA.

Americans believe that dark money should not be able to flood our elections. They believe billionaires and corporations should not be able to buy elections. They believe our Nation is ill-served by corrupt conflicts of interest. They believe in the vision and ideals of our ``we the people'' Republic, and this bill is meant to do just one thing: make real the promise of democracy for all Americans.

But powerful special interests don't want that. It threatens their hold on power by ending the ways they have rigged the system, and so they are all about striking down this bill.

Why is that? We hear how Republican leaders say that they like this rigged system. Apparently, they like dark money in campaigns helping to buy elections. Apparently, they like targeting groups of individuals to prevent them from voting, taking us back to the racist efforts that existed before the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Apparently, they like gerrymandering, thinking it is a sort of the political power down the hall, which political scientists says it is. But should it be principle or power that we fight for here?

It should be the principle and the oath of office we took to uphold the Constitution.

Standing before a crowd on a November afternoon to dedicate the Soldiers' National Cemetery at Gettysburg, 4 months after that momentous battle, President Lincoln remarked that they were gathered together to not only dedicate it to the men who had fallen in battle, but to the ideal for which they gave their lives, ``That government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.''

Today, it is our responsibility to carry that ideal forward and to ensure that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the United States of America. We in this Chamber must pass the For the People Act.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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

Mr. President, I rise to support amendment No. 2103, which addresses a very important issue in the world, which is the issue of governments that undertake to destroy populations, either in other countries or within their own country; that is, to commit genocide.

Now, this topic comes up because China is committing genocide against its own Uighur population--a million Uighurs who are enslaved, who are trapped, who are assaulted in every possible way by the official authorities operating out of Beijing.

The finding of genocide is one that the State Department takes very seriously. It involves long investigations, collection of evidence, analysis. It is not something to say lightly. But we now have two Secretaries of State who have led our State Department through this process and reached the same conclusion--Secretary Pompeo, under President Trump, and Secretary Blinken, under President Biden. And both find that this is, in fact, genocide.

Now, at this very moment, athletes are preparing to compete in the Olympic Games in China, and I find it horrific that the prestige of the Games is going to be carried on for a country that is committing genocide.

Now, we have a Commission that works on human rights issues, known as the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and it hauls a whole team of experts who work to analyze human rights issues. This commission, which is bipartisan and bicameral and includes executive branch appointees, when they are actually appointed, has held a hearing.

At that hearing, various experts came and testified on what China is doing. It reinforced what the Secretary of State under our former President and the Secretary of State under our current President found: Genocide is being conducted by the government in China against the Uighur population

And that is not all China is doing. There are other afflicted groups that it is assaulting. In addition, it has proceeded to start stripping the political rights of the people of Hong Kong.

It is very much in the news. We have seen the citizens protesting in the streets, hundreds of thousands, saying: China, honor the commitment you made when Britain transferred Hong Kong back under a 50-year agreement to China.

And China has not honored that agreement.

Now, China, when it was awarded the Games back in 2015 to be held in 2022--7 years in advance--made human rights promises to the International Olympic Committee--promises that have not been upheld. In fact, during those years, China has become an even worse violator of human rights in Hong Kong, in Xinjiang, and in other ethnic areas, including Tibet.

So we have echoes of 1936--the year the summer Olympics were held in Germany and Hitler was in charge. He used those Olympic Games to shine prestige on his country and to essentially help distract enormously from his already horrific actions against Jewish Germans and other groups within Germany.

So how is it here, nearly a century later, that, again, the Olympics are going to be used to shine a little bit of light and a lot of prestige on a country engaged in genocide?

I want to compliment my colleague Senator Romney of Utah. He has placed in the underlying bill, as it came out of the Foreign Relations Committee, a provision that says: When the Olympics are held, there should be a diplomatic boycott to protest and draw attention to this egregious situation. I hope, also, that the sponsors of those games will start to withdraw their sponsorships.

Now, my friend and colleague Senator Romney is an expert on the Olympic Games because he organized the Olympic Games in Utah. Nobody in America probably knows more about what it takes to prepare for them. And it is not, at this moment, possible for the structure that has been established to host the athletes to be redone and to pivot for just next year, which I find unfortunate, but I understand the point.

So let's do this together. Let's send a strong message to the Olympic Committee, the IOC, that never again should they allow a country to host the Olympic Games that is engaged in genocide. This should be a message that every American can say together--that never should a country be given the prestige of hosting the games when they are committing genocide. Never should a country be able to host the games when it is something like what China is doing to the Uighur population--enslaving them, stripping them of their dignity, their autonomy, their culture, controlling them in every way, enslaving them. Never again should the Games be able to be hosted by a country like China that is restricting the political rights of Hong Kong--what China is doing, stripping the freedom of speech, stripping the freedom of assembly, and breaking the deal that it signed when the deal was struck with Britain for the return of Hong Kong.

So this amendment, cosponsored by Senator Rubio, who is the cochair in the Senate of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China; cosponsored by Senator Romney, who knows more about the Olympic Games than anybody else in this country; cosponsored by Senator Young, who has been a terrific champion against the abuse of citizens in Yemen and the abuse of citizens in Burma--let's adopt this amendment as part of this package while we are on the topic of China, while we are on the topic of trade.

Let's not let this moment bypass us without saying with a unified voice that this is wrong, and that the Olympics, which were designed to lift up the human spirit, to celebrate the best of competition, to have kind of the thrills and the agonies of victory and defeat--that never should the Games, the focal point of world attention, be hosted by a country that is committing genocide.

Thank you.

Mr. President, last September, the Echo Mountain Complex Fire swept through Lincoln County in my home State of Oregon. Nearly 300 homes were destroyed. At least 50 other buildings and structures were burned as well. In just a few days, the lives that residents spent decades building literally went up in smoke. These devastated families began looking around for help--for safety and security; for support getting back on their feet and rebuilding their lives. And they quickly found that help coming from the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians.

Even as the fire raged and families raced out of its path, leaving their homes and belongings behind, the Siletz worked with the Red Cross to open the doors of the Chinook Winds Casino to provide shelter and safety for their displaced neighbors in need. Sadly that safety and security provided by the Siletz was short lived as the casino itself was forced to be evacuated as the fire made its way dangerously close. And with the loss of power and phones lines and people in their cars on the way to the casino while others were leaving, it was hard getting any clear information. How harrowing it must have been for all those who believed they had escaped the worst, only to be forced once more to run from the path of an oncoming inferno. But the Tribe used the casino's shuttles to bring evacuees to the Newport Red Cross site, while staff volunteered to help deliver meals to those in need.

Fortunately, the casino was not damaged, and everyone who was there made it to safety. And after the fire subsided, leaving a path of destruction in its wake, the doors of Chinook Winds and its hotel were once again opened to those in need. Families and members of the community who could not be in their homes--whether because those homes were completed gone or damage to roofs and other parts made them unlivable--were able to stay for up to 3 months at no cost to themselves until they could return to their own houses or found a new permanent living situation.

But all these months later, many Oregonians impacted by the Echo Mountain Complex Fire are still struggling to rebuild their lives. Many still don't have a place to call home. Fortunately, they once again have the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians looking out for and working with them, in partnership with FEMA, to get them back on their feet.

Since March, the Tribe has been hosting FEMA provided trailers on their lands to house Oregonians impacted by the fire until they can find permanent housing--something that could take anywhere from 18 to 24 months in this part of the State that continues to struggle with a shortage of affordable housing.

This is the first time in Oregon's history and potentially in the history of the whole country that FEMA has partnered with the leadership of a Tribe to host housing units on Tribal lands. FEMA was originally working with Lincoln County and Lincoln City to put these homes on another site, but that effort was stalled when the Agency found several problems with the site. Hearing about the problems and recognizing the urgent need to get roofs over the heads of these families, the Siletz jumped at the chance to help out.

Thanks to the partnership between the Tribe's leaders, FEMA, Lincoln City, which had to change a zoning law to help make it happen, and Siletz Tribal Business Corporation staff, this project was developed and completed in record time--a testament not only to the real need for this help but to everyone's commitment to making it happen. And today, all 25 trailers are fully occupied, and the people living there have developed their own little community to support one another.

We all owe a debt of gratitude to the members of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians for not only opening their doors and helping those in need in the middle of two crises--the pandemic and the Echo Mountain Complex Fire--but for continuing to step up and help their neighbors in need all these months later. It really speaks to the spirit of the Tribe and to the entire Oregon community to see that, when times get tough and people are in need of help, they can count on others to be there for them.

Madam President, my colleagues have talked about free and fair elections, but I am quite concerned that this bill does quite the opposite.

I am really quite stunned that one would think that a bill that dictates exactly how every State has to use an ID law affects the access to the ballot box for every single American, that it would be requested that it would be passed with no process, no possibility of a committee to examine the fact that every single American voter is impacted by this effort to erect a barricade between the voter and the ballot box.

I was thinking about how, when we were here on January 6, the boxes that had the electoral college votes--gorgeous, ornate, old wooden boxes were here on the counter, and they are just a symbol of the pulsating heart of our Republic, the ability of every citizen to participate in the vision for their country, how their country will operate, how their children will have an opportunity to thrive--that ballot box.

So here is a bill designed to make it harder to get your voice heard, harder to get your ballot counted, being asked to be considered by this Chamber with absolutely no process of committee deliberation.

If we had such a process, it would be pointed out that currently millions of Americans don't have the IDs required in this measure. Well, that makes it a lot harder for millions of Americans to vote.

It would also be pointed out in the committee process that of those who don't have those IDs, about three times as many Black Americans don't have those IDs as White Americans, even though Black Americans are a much smaller percentage of the American population, which means that this measure is hugely discriminatory against Black Americans. And it is just wrong to engage in that type of discrimination in an effort to manipulate the outcome of elections.

Now, it would be quite a different conversation if we had evidence that there were an actual, real problem being addressed. But, fortunately, this has been studied time and time and time again. We had the Governor of Michigan testifying here on Capitol Hill just a few days ago, and we asked when they did the study--the investigation because of the lawsuits that were filed related to the last election-- how many people voted illegally in vote by mail. And that effort to find the evidence of fraud turned out, she said, zero. Zero.

And I asked her a question because I was stunned that it was zero. Certainly one person who thought they were a citizen but wasn't a citizen and voted who was found? Zero. Zero.

And there is study after study after study. So we understand what this is, and that is what would be explored in committee. It is an effort to make it harder for Americans to vote.

It is not about security because there is not a security problem. It is about the fact that this disproportionately affects low-income Americans and Black Americans.

So I stand here today considering whether to object because I believe in that vision of Americans having a full, free, fair chance to be involved in their elections, defending the ballot box for every single American, and this bill does the opposite.

I object.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that with respect to the Young nomination, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Madam President, today I am proud to join a number of my colleagues to highlight the importance of S. 1, the For the People Act.

The ballot box is the pulsating heart of our government of, by, and for the people.

President Lyndon B. Johnson said:

The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by

man for breaking down injustice.

Think about that--``the most powerful instrument ever devised for breaking down injustice.''

It is Robert Kennedy who observed that ``each citizen's right to vote is fundamental to all the other rights of citizenship.''

You know, the opportunity to cast a ballot is not just an opportunity. It is not simply a responsibility. But it is a right--the right--the right that embodies all it means to a republic in which the power flows from the people.

Our Nation, however imperfect in the beginning, has worked toward this vision of citizens through the ballot box, driving the vision of our Nation, for over 200 years, overcoming barrier after barrier. We overcame some of the barriers of race with the 14th and 15th Amendments. We overcame the barriers of gender with the 19th Amendment. We overcame barriers that had denied Native Americans the right to vote with the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924. We overcame the barriers of Jim Crow with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. But now, as we stand in this Chamber, the central right of each citizen's opportunity to participate in the election through the ballot box is again under attack.

Right now as we speak, there are 253 bills in 43 States assaulting the right to vote. These efforts are designed to make it harder for students to vote, for low-income Americans to vote, for Native Americans to vote, for seniors to vote, and most insidiously, for Black and Brown Americans to vote. And I say ``most insidiously'' because blocking access to the ballot has been a massive form of systemic racism throughout our history for Black Americans.

But all of us in this Chamber have taken an oath to the Constitution. All of us have a responsibility to defend the ballot box. It is our responsibility to knock down the barriers that others would put up to prevent citizens from having the opportunity to participate in our elections. That is exactly what S. 1, For the People, does in the face of the greatest attack on voting rights in this Nation since Jim Crow.

This legislation puts the power back where it belongs--in the hands of the people.

This bill said that if you believe in the vision of our democratic Republic, then you believe in voter empowerment, not voter intimidation, not voter obstruction, not voter suppression.

This bill says that the people should choose their politicians, not the other way around. Gerrymandering attacks the very notion of equal representation that is so important in the social contract of the citizens with their government. So this bill says we will have an independent commission in each State to draw the boundaries of the districts so that we put an end to partisan gerrymandering.

This bill says that government of, by, and for the people means you can't have a stadium sound system turned up to full volume, drowning out the voice of the people. And what is that stadium sound system? It is the dark money, hundreds of millions of dollars of unidentified funds racing and coursing through our elections across this country, doing attack ads, with citizens having no idea where that funding is coming from. That is simply wrong.

This bill says that public servants should work in the public interest, not to line their own pockets, not to serve simply the wealthy or the powerful or the privileged.

These points are straightforward. We have been fighting to improve and guarantee the vision of government of, by, and for th people over our entire history. Now, to protect our system of voting, the foundation of our Republic, we have to get this bill over the finish line. We have an extraordinary team working to make that happen, Senators with sturdy, clear ideals and excellent ideas and grit and determination coming together to save our Republic: Senator Klobuchar, who will be speaking next--author of several of the key provisions of this bill, including bipartisan provisions--who tomorrow will be chairing the first-ever Senate hearing on this landmark legislation; Senator Padilla, who knows exactly what it is like to be a secretary of state and has been an amazing champion for voter empowerment in his home State; Senator Van Hollen, who led the EMPOWER Act and the Restoring Integrity to America's Elections Act; Senator Whitehouse, who authored the DISCLOSE Act portion of the bill and is a tremendous leader on campaign finance reform.

Today, our Nation is at a crossroads. Are we going to be a nation for ``we the people,'' or are we going to be a nation for ``we the powerful''?

We must pass the For the People Act to save our democracy. As our leader said last week, ``Failure is not an option.'' So let's get it done, and let's ensure, as Abraham Lincoln declared, that ``government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.''

I yield to Senator Klobuchar.

Mr. President, I thank my colleagues who have come to the floor to speak so powerfully to the essential task of defending the ballot box, of stripping dark money out of our elections, of honoring the vision of equal representation by ending the practice of gerrymandering across this country.

Senator Klobuchar, who chairs the Rules Committee and who will host and direct the committee hearing, the first ever for S. 1, For the People Act, made a powerful representation of how vote-by-mail gives every citizen a full opportunity to participate in elections without the manipulations that can occur on election day, when different people who do not want you to have access to a ballot can put all kinds of hurdles and obstacles in your way.

Senator Van Hollen, who authored the DISCLOSE Act in the House, reminded us of John Lewis and his fellow protestors being beaten bloody on the Edmund Pettus Bridge to secure the right to vote, as so many other Americans have fought for the right to vote since our founding.

Senator Padilla, who implemented so many reforms in California as Secretary of State, gave us a sense that this can be done anywhere in the country in time for next year's elections.

Senator Whitehouse, who has championed the DISCLOSE Act in the Senate, noted that there is a scheme of 501(c)(3) corporations and donor advice trusts and phony-baloney shell corporations, as he put it, all working to corrupt our campaigns and that the amount of money that has been used to secure power to the powerful by manipulating the elections now exceeds $1 billion.

And Senator Durbin, who has championed year after year after year the Fair Elections Now Act, presenting a powerful remedy for the role of Big Money donations in our campaigns through public financing--public financing, not with government funds

but with funds that come from corporate malfeasance.

So I appreciate so much these colleagues who have been all involved in so many different ways in this battle to save our Republic.

There is always a powerful force seeking to manipulate the election process to their favor, and it is one of many tools that that powerful group brings to bear. There are the dozens of lawyers who work night and day, being paid hundreds of dollars an hour, to secure power for the powerful. There are the public media campaigns that take tens of millions of dollars to frame issues to try to persuade Americans of their particular viewpoint or to drive a wedge between different groups of Americans. There is that dark money. There are those efforts in State legislatures to block the vote.

I want to just close by reminding us all that the Constitution clearly states that elections for Senators and House Members, this body--Congress--has the ability to pass laws to make sure those elections are fair across this country because every American of any State has a clear stake in the legitimacy of the elections in other States because it is the collective voice here that makes decisions. So this is not only a responsibility provided to us, it is a responsibility that we must fulfill to defend the ballot box, to end gerrymandering violating equal representation, and clear that dark money, polluting and corrupting our campaigns, out of the system forevermore.

Let's get this essential bill, this essential defense of the pulsating heart of our democracy, the ballot box--let's get this bill passed.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, the Klamath Tribes in Oregon have a saying: ``We help each other; We will live good.'' These words are neither hollow nor trivial to the members of these Tribes. They live them each and every day and never more so than when disaster strikes. When the Two Four Two Fire raged through the Chiloquin Ranger District of the Fremont-Winema National Forest last September, scorching over 14,000 acres, destroying homes and traditional hunting and fishing sites, members of the Tribes rallied together, opening their doors, their hearts, and their wallets to help their fellow Oregonians in a time of great need.

They brought those eight words--``We help each other; We will live good''--to life.

When emergency personnel needed a large, open area to establish an evacuation shelter for all those who had to

flee their homes ahead of the inferno, the Tribes immediately offered up the parking lot the Kla-Mo-Ya Casino for their use.

When the firefighters tasked with containing the fire needed a massive open space to stage their ample equipment, those same expansive parking lots were readily provided to them.

At the same time, the doors of their hotel were thrown open to anyone displaced by the fire, to Tribal and non-Tribal members alike who were in need of shelter. In the middle of a pandemic, with all manner of precautions in place to keep folks healthy and safe, that was no easy feat, but they did it, all while also welcoming the Red Cross inside to set up a response center, as well.

As the forests burned around it, the Kla-Mo-Ya Casino stood there like the eye of a hurricane. It became a center of help and healing, of safety and shelter. Had they just done those things, the Klamath Tribes would have already gone far above and beyond to support Tribal members and community members alike. They didn't stop, however, with providing the use of their hotel and its facilities to first responders and to those in need.

No. Klamath Tribal Behavioral Health went out and provided assistance and services to anyone who had been affected and displaced, free of charge. Whether they were Tribal members or not, it didn't matter. Those who needed help were able to get it. They helped feed the firefighters risking their lives fighting the infernos, emergency volunteers helping others, and even evacuees.

And even now, some 5 months after the worst of the fire's carnage, the Klamath Tribes are still doing what they can to help those whose lives were turned upside down by it. A GoFundMe account has been set up to help any family who lost their home or their property to the Two Four Two Fire rebuild and start to get back up on their feet again. The distribution of the money raised by the account is still a work in progress. The Tribes are fine-tuning the priority system and how folks will apply for it. But once all of that is worked out, this is going to be a tremendous help to so many of our friends and neighbors who have endured such heartbreak and hardship.

``We help each other; We will live good.'' There is no question that the members of the Klamath Tribes have helped those in need across southern Oregon through an unimaginably difficult time. We are all deeply grateful for everything they have done, both during the Two Four Two Fire and afterward. And we will all be better off as a State and as a community because of their kindness and generosity of spirit.

Mr. President, this month our country is joining together in celebration of Black History Month. It is a month for all of us to recognize the indescribable impact that Black Americans have left made on our Nation; to recommit ourselves to the struggle to achieve and ensure racial justice throughout our land; and, of course, to celebrate Black culture and all of its contributions to America past, present, and future. Few institutions are more connected or have been more central to Black culture than the barbershop and beauty salon. As described by the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, for generations, men and women have been going to these businesses not just for hair care, but for the sense of community and security they provide. Black Americans go to spend time among peers, playing cards or chess, sharing the latest local news and engaging in passionate debates about politics. Men and women go in to these businesses for friendship and mentorship and to be engaged in the affairs of their neighbors and their community.

For 30 years, this was particularly true of Geneva's Shear Perfection Barber & Beauty Salon in northeast Portland. Since opening its doors in 1991, Geneva's has been a hub for Portland's African-American community, welcoming over 1,000 people through its doors every month. Folks from Michael Jordan and Muhammed Ali, to members of the Portland Trailblazers, sat in its chairs. But more importantly, it stood as the heart for three generations of Black Portlanders who first walked through Geneva's doors as children with their parents and then went on to bring their own sons and daughters for their first haircuts, even as the area around this local institution underwent the kind of gentrification that pushed Black families further and further away.

But it wasn't only the barbershop itself that is considered an institution of the Portland community--so is the Knauls family who owned and operated it for three decades. Geneva Knauls, who passed away in 2014, was our State's first Black female barber. Throughout her years as a businesswoman, Geneva supported all different kinds of local grassroots projects and organizations, and become one of the most beloved people in the northeast Portland community. Her status is only equaled by her husband's, Mr. Paul Knauls, Sr., who is affectionately known around town as the Mayor of Northeast Portland. From 1963 to 1970, Mr. Knauls owned and ran the Cotton Club, which was the place for jazz and soul music, welcoming such big names as Etta James, Big Mama Thornton, and Sammy Davis, Jr., to its stage to serenade music-loving Portlanders. He sold the Cotton Club in 1970 and went on to open a series of others throughout town before finally opening Geneva's. All the while, throughout all of his business adventures, Paul has been active in other ways throughout the community. He worked with the Junior Achievement Program at both Humboldt and Jefferson schools, tutored in the HOSTS--Help One Student to Succeed--program at King School, and served for 6 years on the board of the Urban League.

Last year, Mr. Knauls and his son, Paul Jr., decided it was finally time to take a break and close the doors of Geneva's. It was also a decision made out of a recognition of the difficult new realities of trying to operate a personal care business in the midst of an unprecedented national and global pandemic. Sadly, the Knauls and Geneva's are not alone. Many businesses have been forced to confront life amid the COVID pandemic and BIPOC-owned businesses and communities have been disproportionately impacted. Last year's announcement of the closure of Geneva's Shear Perfection Barber & Beauty Salon was understandably met with an emotional outpouring from local Portlanders. Men and women who had been going to the shop their entire lives took to the shop's Facebook page to thank the Knauls family for their contributions to the community and to share some fond memories. Statements came from local leaders and celebrities touting Geneva's legacy, as one person put it, as ``one of the most important examples of a black business that represented more to the community than just a place to get a haircut.''

And a year after its closing, that legacy continues to endure. Geneva's Facebook page is brimming with pictures of young men in graduation robes in front of the salon, of a turkey giveaway in its parking lot that took place this past Thanksgiving to help provide for families in need, and announcements from other local Black business owners who are moving into the space to continue the Knauls family's entrepreneurial spirit. And the legacy of ``The Mayor'' and his iconic standing in the community remains as strong today as it ever has; even after celebrating Mr. Knaul's 90th birthday age and the pandemic have not stopped Paul Knauls, Sr., from putting on two masks to go out for daily walks in his neighborhood and around the Lloyd Center. For his 90th birthday last month, the nonprofit World Arts Foundation streamed a live storytelling event, featuring decades of friends, employees, and admirers to help him celebrate.

I know that Portlanders everywhere will join me in expressing the immense gratitude to Geneva's Shear Perfection Barber & Beauty Salon and to the Knauls family for all that they have done for the community. Northeast Portland certainly won't be the same without Geneva's, but everyone who walked through those doors over the last 30 years has had their lives

touched and impacted by it in ways both big and small. And it is reassuring to know that, through each of them, Geneva's legacy, the legacy of the Black barbershop and salon, the legacy of community and friendship and looking out for one another, will continue to endure.

Mr. President, I send a question to the desk.

Mr. President, we are 11 months into the most severe healthcare crisis this country or the world has seen in more than a century. And for much of this past year, we haven't done anywhere close to enough to help the millions of Americans who are suffering-- suffering not only from the virus itself but from the economic implosion created by this pandemic.

The American people are in desperate need of help. It has been many, many months since we passed the CARES Act. It was way back in March of last year. That is a long time ago--10 months ago. Then the House, down this hallway, in May--middle of May--passed the Heroes Act, saying: Let's do what we need to do for healthcare and housing, for education, for creating good-paying jobs to help America address both the healthcare side and the economic side of this pandemic. And this Senate said no. This Senate said: We are sorry. We spent all of our money on tax breaks for the richest Americans. We don't have the resources to help out ordinary Americans in the face of this pandemic. We prefer to do nothing.

And the prefer-to-do-nothing leadership of this body proceeded to do nothing in June and July and August and September and October, into November. Meanwhile, the American people were gearing up for an election, to basically weigh in on the direction that this country was going, and here the Senate sat and did nothing in the face of millions of struggling families across our country. Finally, after the election, a minimal amount was done with the omnibus bill.

Well, the time for playing the fiddle while Rome burns or twiddling our thumbs while America suffers is over.

In the campaign, Democrats said: We will end the inaction of this Senate in addressing the Nation's challenges, the families' struggle across America, if you put us in a place to do so.

And they did. To the House down the hall, this Chamber, and the White House down Pennsylvania Avenue, the American said: Get your act together. Engage in competent, professional, direct, bold assistance to these enormous challenges we face.

And Joe Biden promised that if elected President, he would utilize every resource of the Federal Government to take on the COVID pandemic and help American families get back on their feet.

The American people spoke loudly. They spoke clearly, and now we intend to deliver on the promises and provide real help to American families and businesses struggling in these difficult times.

There are a variety of ways that we can go forward to address this challenge. Certainly, one is to have a bill on this floor, have it open to amendments--relevant amendments, germane amendments--proceed to see what the majority of this body, 51 Members, would say should be changed in that bill or modified in that bill. But that tradition has bee absolutely squashed by the leadership in this Senate over the past few years under Republican leadership. I would like to see it restored. I would like to see it restored, but with it goes not blocking the bill from leaving this Chamber after thorough deliberation has occurred.

We know that in the 6 years that President Johnson led this Chamber, there was not but one--one--blockade to keep bills that had received majority support from leaving this Chamber. But in the 6 years that Harry Reid led this Chamber, there were over 400 times that the minority said: No, we will not let this bill leave this Chamber.

That is exactly--exactly--the type of obstruction and delay that is making this Chamber dysfunctional. We have already seen it in terms of the organizing resolution. It is still not done--still not done-- because the minority leader--now-Minority Leader Mitch McConnell--wants to delay and obstruct, delay and obstruct, delay and obstruct, delay and obstruct, as he did from the time the House passed the Heroes Act until the modest bill in December.

I would love to see this bill--this $1.9 trillion bill--on this floor and let the majority works its way. Ask if more money was needed to help children return to the classroom--my colleague from Texas was just addressing that topic--and more assistance in helping families still unemployed by the meltdown, more assistance to the small businesses. Or maybe some Members would like to propose less help here or less help there, but that goes with the ability to move the bill quickly for action. We await that kind of pledge, that kind of pledge to end the delay-and-obstruct tactics of the minority.

In the meantime, therefore, we must go forward on a double path and say we will prepare to go through the reconciliation process, the simple majority process that comes from the Budget Act of 1973--the same process Republicans have used time and time again to give tax breaks to the richest Americans. Any process used in that fashion, I think, was abused. But using it to help ordinary families get back on their feet--that honors that process.

Where do we stand now? One in five renters in America are behind on paying their rent because they are struggling financially. Nearly 24 million Americans, 11 percent of all adults, report not having enough food in their homes. Millions of children are affected by that shortage of food. Millions of American children are going hungry. That is where we are right now. Hundreds of thousands of businesses are shuttering their doors for good, and hundreds of thousands more are on the verge of doing so. Too many classrooms echo with the sounds of silence rather than the laughter of children.

This bill is about changing that. We need to move quickly. Our children are struggling so hard to do their class work over a computer, over a Zoom. It is so hard to feel good about life when you don't have the chance to play and interact with other children, so depressing when you are trapped in a house.

Yes, we need to reopen the schools. So let's pass this bill, and let's pass this bill quickly, and let's get those $1,400 payments in the hands of adults and children, stimulating the economy from the foundation up--not Wall Street down, the foundation up--helping struggling families, helping struggling small businesses--Main Street, not Wall Street--payments that will help put food on the table, keep the lights turned on, keep the internet turned on, make sure that a family doesn't suffer eviction.

And strengthen the payments for those who need it most, the unemployed. Now, we are facing a deadline of March 14--March 14--when the Federal partnership in supporting the unemployment benefits runs out. So we must act before that happens.

Those who know the reconciliation process know that it is lightning fast to do it in a 6-week period, but that is what we must do, and we must start now. If, in the meantime, the minority decides to abandon its dedication to obstruction and delay and be full participants in helping America, then let's get that bill on the floor and go that path. I am fine with that, but it cannot prevent us from acting.

We were elected to act. The American people support strong, bold, generous action now to prevent years and years of recession ahead, of struggling ahead.

These are unprecedented times, and in unprecedented difficult times we need to think of ourselves as all one community. We need to help and partner with our States and our counties and our cities and our Tribes. We need to get them the help they need that has been so fiercely opposed--help to enable them to do basic education improvements, basic public safety, making sure that the firefighters and police officers and teachers are still able to do the work they are called upon to do, and help those Tribal governments purchase personal protective equipment and have access to telemedicine services.

There are no blue and red communities when it comes to a national crisis across this country. When it comes to disease, it affects people, regardless of which party you belong to or what part of the country you live in. A bipartisan attack on our health should involve a bipartisan response in this Chamber, not the obstruction-and-delay tactics the majority has come to view as their core strategy. It must end.

When hundreds of mayors wrote to us and said ``We need help; act now,'' they weren't Democratic mayors; they weren't Republican mayors. They were bipartisan mayors from all across this country saying: Now is the time. We need help now.

Yet delay and obstruction was the strategy of the minority. They had spent all their money, they said, giving tax breaks to the richest Americans. There is no room to help ordinary working Americans.

That philosophy doesn't belong in a government of, by, and for the people. If you want a government of, by, and for the powerful, then find a different Constitution, a different system of government. But here the people have spoken. They have spoken clearly, and it is our responsibility to respond.

To those mayors, those bipartisan mayors, across this country: We hear you, and we stand with you. Let's move promptly and boldly to address this crisis.

The President has put out a very clear plan that addresses every significant area that the mayors and community leaders across this country have said they need help in. Let's be their partner in that assistance and put America back on its feet.

Mr. President, when we have a new administration, lots of changes take place--changes in offices, changes in committee assignments--but for all of us here in the Senate, perhaps the most challenging change is when members of our team decide to open new chapters in their lives. We celebrate those new chapters and wish them well, but we will also miss them greatly.

I come to the floor to talk about three of my team members who are headed to a new chapter in each of their lives.

Scott Maguire has been a central part of our team since day one. He is my good friend, a valued team member who is preparing a new chapter in his life in the form of a well-deserved retirement.

As of yesterday, January 26, he completed 12 years on our U.S. Senate team as our State operations director. The Boy Scouts of America that have a motto: ``Be prepared.'' They also have a slogan: ``Do a good turn daily.'' These are attributes that I always have held dear, and they are qualities I looked for when setting out to build a team to serve the people of Oregon when I was elected to the Senate in 2008.

Scott was at the top of my list because I knew that these were qualities that define who he is. I knew this because I have known Scott for a very long time. We met through Boy Scout Troop 634 back when we were 11 or 12 years old. We recognized and respected each other's leadership skills, and I admired Scott's growth in character and capabilities as he advanced to the rank of Eagle Scout.

When we were 15, Scott and I were dissatisfied with how the district council was running their annual First Aid Meets, so we proposed to the council executive that we take over and run the weekend event. To our surprise, the staff of the council agreed.

I think the resulting weekend event, which included dozens of troops, hundreds of Scouts, was a tremendous success. It was the type of mutual project that has bonded us over our lifetimes.

Scott did many things in his career before joining my team. He served as operations director of the Northwest Christian Evangelistic Association; as executive director of the Oregon Lions Sight & Hearing Foundation; as a reporter and editor of the Gresham Outlook.

He got involved in many volunteer roles, including with the Gresham Breakfast Lions Club, the Gresham Early Risers Kiwanis Club, and he has volunteered millions of hours just so much to serve the Civil Air Patrol and is now a lieutenant colonel in the Civil Air Patrol.

Looking back to 2009, I can't imagine how we would have gotten our Oregon team off the ground or built the operation we have today without Scott Maguire.

Over the years, he has kept the computers computing and the supplies supplied, but he has done so much more. He pioneered and built our Oregon internship program, which has been a pipeline for hundreds of Oregonians who have been going on to do great things serving in State and national government, in community organizations, and in business to make that intern program the best possible.

Scott cultivated strong relationships with Oregon's colleges, and he could work with them. He was always on the search to give young Oregonians with a passion for public service the opportunity for public service. He cared deeply about their experience and success throughout their time in our office but in the time beyond as well.

Scott stepped in to serve as my field representative for a number of Oregon counties, organizing the townhalls they hold in those counties every year to hear from our constituents. He has not only helped to plan in organizing these events but saved them from going off the rails as unexpected challenges arose.

Back in 2017, when we were debating the future of the Affordable Care Act, we knew that citizens were passionate and angry, so we anticipated a large turnout, planning for 1,000 attendees--twice what was ever seen before. And imagine our shock when 4,000 Oregonians showed up. Constituents were packed in like sardines. Hundreds crowded into a courtyard outside watching through the windows, but there was Scott swooping in to save the day.

He reworked the sound system. He opened the windows. He figured out how to put speakers outside the windows so everyone could hear and participate. Crisis averted. That was just another day for Scott, working behind the scenes and taking care of things that most people don't even know were going wrong to ensure things were running smoothly.

Last year, before the pandemic shut down so much of our lives and our offices went remote, we saw massive shortages on essentials like hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, and tissues. But Scott, seeing the crisis developing, raced around the metro area to gather supplies to keep the members of our team healthy and safe. That is who Scott Maguire is: the kind of person who goes above and beyond for everyone in every situation; the kind of person who is prepared and always goes out of his way to do a good turn daily for others; the kind of person who, regardless of who you are, treats you like a VIP.

I speak for all members of Team Merkley, for all the interns who have come through our office, for all the folks Scott has worked with over the years, when I say that he will be deeply missed, and it will not be the same without him.

We wish our dear friend Scott Maguire and his wonderful wife Beth all the best as they begin a new chapter of their lives together.

I picture Scott, who has had a business, Shorty's BBQ, catering barbecue, Texas style, during his years in Oregon--you will probably see him firing that grill up a lot more often in the years ahead. It will be a chapter undoubtedly filled with loving friends, family, great traveling adventures, and, of course, as much barbecue as they can possibly handle.

We will miss you, Scott Maguire.

Mr. President, I have two other team members who are leaving.

Laura Updegrove is leaving us to work with the Biden administration. She came to us after serving in various foreign policy roles at the State Department, the Department of Defense, and the White House. She joined our team 4 years ago to bring her extensive expertise to bear on our foreign policy portfolio, and I am sure glad she did.

During her tenure in my office, I have been astonished, time and again, by the depth and breadth of her knowledge, her work ethic, her strong organizational and management skills, and the way she approaches each and every task with a very positive attitude. Those traits make her not only a top-notch legislative staffer but a terrific partner as we work to address a variety of issues.

On two occasions, we had the chance to travel on international issues--one trip to many different countries in Africa to better understand the root causes and impacts of the four famines on that continent and to understand how American policy could be changed to assist in these desperately difficult situations.

Then, some years ago, we had the genocide carried out against the Rohingya people in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi came and spoke to the United Nations, and she said: We have nothing to hide. Come and see for yourselves. So Laura went to work in organizing the congressional response, the congressional trip. We really thought we were going to see exactly what had gone on in those villages, and she worked incredibly hard to arrange everything from boats to helicopters to get us to the right places. Then, the day before we left, Burma denied us the ability to see those villages.

We had backup plan after backup plan to explore what had happened both in Burma and the conditions at the refugee camps in Bangladesh. She reworked everything in a short period of time to direct attention by our congressional delegation and through our delegation to the world to the traumatized, difficult circumstances of a community that was the subject of genocide by Burma. Again, the whole goal was to figure out how the United States could do more to help. Laura really understood and cared about and helped with the plight of people in some of the most difficult circumstances around the world.

The same passion and dedication and strategic thinking that Laura dedicated as a policy staffer are also what have made her an outstanding legislative director for the past 2 years. She has not only continued to lead our efforts on critical issues from rules reform to social justice but has been a daily example of the power of teamwork and mentorship to other staffers.

Her departure is a big loss for Team Merkley but a really big win for the Biden administration, particularly the State Department, where she will be able to utilize her enormous talents on behalf of our country and on behalf of our country's building a better world.

Laura, we wish you all the best.

Mr. President, our third team member who is leaving is Ben Ward.

I think of Ben as our appropriations wizard. He knows that system inside out, and he is the master of Tribal issues and natural resources issues and so much more. He is heading off to serve as the Office of Management and Budget's Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs. I think the whole world noticed his extraordinary talents, and we are looking forward to continuing to work with him as we strive to make the appropriations efforts as effective as possible.

I think that virtually no one in Oregon has gone untouched by the work that Ben has done over the past 5 years. He has worked to get piping money to Central Oregon to assist the farmers. The farmers not only get more water, but more water gets left in the Deschutes River.

He has worked very hard to advance the improvement of Native fishing sites, treaty fishing sites, on the Columbia River and the preparations to

rebuild communities that were wiped out by the building of dams some 70 years ago that have never been properly addressed. He has proceeded to help the Klamath Tribes secure the funds to improve the habitats for their sacred c'waam and koptu fish and to improve the whole, entire water ecosystem in the Klamath Basin for all of the stakeholders.

When we had a big problem with sea lions that were blocking the fish ladders and blocking the mouths of streams and tributaries, he concocted probably more than a dozen plans to try to find one that could move through this legislative process and address the challenge, and he succeeded.

He helped get funding so that we could have more people fighting fires on the frontlines, and he helped to get funding so we could thin the forests and treat the forests so that they would be less likely to burn in the first place.

He helped us get money for the coastal ports so they could be drudged and so they would continue to operate appropriately and safely for the economy of the coastal ports.

He helped us make sure we got help for the diverse agricultural research stations in Oregon and for the mass timber project that is developing whole new categories of engineered wood products that can build buildings that are 14 stories high out of wood rather than concrete and steel, utilizing our incredible supply of amazing wood in the Pacific Northwest. He also assisted our universities in getting funding for all kinds of programs.

The list is almost inexhaustible, but I think we all understand the point. He is incredibly talented at seeing opportunities and is incredibly persistent in seizing those opportunities. That is Ben's way of getting things done. That is why he has been so valued, and that is why we will greatly miss him.

Ben, we wish you all the best as you work on behalf of the Biden administration and the larger OMB process in coordination with the U.S. Senate.

To each of these team members, I say that, once you are a member of Team Merkley, you are never not a member. You will always be part of our family. We so much appreciate what you have contributed to the team and what you have contributed to building a better world.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.