Floor Statements

Mr. President, it is hard to believe that this week marks 1 year since the Trump administration and Federal Communications Commission Chairman Pai, chose to reverse the Commission's stance on net neutrality. What is net neutrality? The principles are simple. Internet service providers should be required to treat all internet content and traffic equally. They should not be able to block access to websites, to reduce the speeds at which consumers browse the internet, or charge consumers more based on the types of websites they are visiting.

The Trump administration believes that companies should be able to freely block or slow down consumers' access to the internet in the interest of higher profits. My Democratic colleagues and I believe that all content should be treated equally, and corporate financial interests should not be more important than protecting American consumers.

The fact is that most Americans agree with us. The decision to rollback net neutrality was unpopular a year ago, and it remains unpopular today. In March of 2019, a poll conducted by tech research firm, Comparitech, found that four in five Americans support net neutrality.

Make no mistake, at times, it seems like we are living in one of the most partisan times in our Nation's history, but on the topic of net neutrality, 86 percent of Democrats, 79 percent of Independents, and 77 percent of Republicans support protecting a free and open internet for American consumers.

Now more than ever, constituents are engaging with the issues of the day and are willing to let their elected officials know their views on what is important to them. I can tell you that, of the physical mail and emails my office receives, net neutrality has been one of the most important issues to Illinoisans. Since January 20, 2017, my office has received almost 200,000 letters on the topic of net neutrality, and by a mile, constituents are in support of the principles of net neutrality and want to reverse the action taken by the FCC.

I have got news for you: the Members of the House have heard their constituents loud and clear. Two months ago, the House passed the Save the Internet Act that would reaffirm the government's commitment to net neutrality and prevent major corporations from slowing down, blocking access to, or charging more for certain websites. When this bill arrived in the Senate, what have we chosen to do? A measure containing principles that 77 percent of Republicans support and received bipartisan support last Congress? Not a thing.

Leader McConnell and Republicans have instead proceeded to turn the Senate into a legislative graveyard. They have prioritized doling out lifetime appointments to our Federal courts while refusing to take action on many of our Nation's pressing most issues, including demonstrating a commitment to upholding a free and open internet.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

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

Mr. President, Saturday morning, I was in Alton, IL. This picture here is what we saw. You have to look closely to understand what I am looking at here. These grain elevators are in downtown Alton, IL, and this is the Mississippi River, which has now risen to the point that it is just below this red line. I know this red line a little bit because it marks the 1993 flood level of the same Mississippi River, so we are almost there. We were hoping over the weekend that the river would crest and that Alton and so many other communities in the Midwest would be spared further flooding.

The interesting thing is, when I went down there to talk to the people engaged in the recovery effort and trying to help fight these floodwaters, there was an insight I was really surprised to hear. I asked them what is different about this flood, because we get lots of floods in the Midwest. The difference with this flood, according to those who have done the research, is this is a flood of longer duration than any flood we have seen since 1927.

When I spoke to the mayor of the town of Alton, IL, I said: So this comes and goes? He said: It never goes, Senator. We have had six floods in the last 10 years that were supposed to be breaking historic records.

So let's step back for a minute and take an honest look at this, if we can, and realize that we are living in a little different world this year than we did just a few years ago. The extreme weather events, which we hear reported every single day, suggest that something is going on beyond just changes in the weather. When we see rainfall and snowfall in the upper Midwest, which is now responsible for this flooding situation here, we have to ask ourselves the obvious question: Is this just a one-off event, or are we seeing the new normal? And if this is the new normal, are we prepared for it?

When these floodwaters hopefully recede in the very near future, there will be a lot of repair work to be done. There is a lot of damage to homes, businesses, and families. But then there will be a big question: What do we do next? If this is the new normal in our weather patterns, if we are in fact seeing a change in our climate around

the United States and around the world, how will we respond? My first concern, of course, is my home State of Illinois and the folks who are kind enough to let me serve them in the U.S. Senate.

I want to do everything I can to work with the Army Corps of Engineers, which is a critical part of flood protection for the Midwest. These earthen levees you will see along the shorelines of the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers have been sorely taxed by these floodwaters. When they are drenched and soaked over long periods of time, they tend to weaken. We count on the Army Corps of Engineers and the good people locally to step forward and help us fortify these levees. We need to continue to do that, maybe even more so because of the frequency of the floods we are seeing in the Midwest.

But we have a responsibility here in Washington too. What are we doing about the climate change that is happening around the world? What are we doing to make sure our kids and grandkids will inherit an Earth that is habitable and that won't face these kinds of awful occurrences on a regular basis? Are we willing to make sacrifices and changes in the comfort of our own lives just a little bit so that our kids and grandkids have a world that they can live in, a world that is habitable, that they can pass on to the next generation? I don't think that is too much to ask.

There was an agreement reached a few years ago in Paris. Every nation in the world signed up to do something. Every single nation in the world signed up to do something to reach a common goal of stopping the warming of this planet and everything that has followed. Then what happened with the election of this President? President Trump stepped forward and said: Count us out. The United States is not in the Paris Agreement any longer. We are the only nation in the world to step away from that agreement. The rest of the world understands the gravity of this challenge. Today, it is the floods in the Midwest. Tomorrow, it will be that tornado in Oklahoma. The list goes on and on and on.

I stand ready to work with everyone I can locally to deal with this, but I also plead with this administration--open your eyes to the reality of climate change in the world and what it is doing to the extreme weather patterns we currently face.

Our Governor, J. B. Pritzker, has declared a disaster in 34 of Illinois's 102 counties--about a third of the State. Four hundred Illinois National Guard men and women members are working sometimes around the clock to do their part, and my hat is off to them and their families for their extraordinary sacrifice.

The levees, like the Nutwood Levee, which isn't far from Alton, IL, were breached by floodwaters, and over the past week, a small town was evacuated. State and local officials have urged everyone there to be careful and make certain that they do everything they can to protect themselves and their property.

When you take a look at this picture taken in Alton, IL, you don't see the real story. There are a few people, families who are looking at floodwaters, but the real story is the coordinated effort, which is heartwarming. It is not just the Federal agencies, like the Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard; it is not just the State agencies, like the Illinois Emergency Management Agency; it is the local units of government, like the city of Alton and so many other cities, that have come together to coordinate their efforts and to make the best of what they have.

It is also an effort by a lot of charitable organizations. As you might expect, the Red Cross was on the scene almost immediately, and we also know the Salvation Army has been involved as well. They are all doing their part to make sure we work together.

But the one group that should be recognized--they may not have a formal title--are the men and women, the families and community leaders who stepped up and rolled up their sleeves to fill the sandbags to help their neighbors. It is not just a midwestern thing, but it is a midwestern thing, as far as I am concerned. Our people and our families across my State time and again step up to lend a helping hand to one another. In this time of need with this kind of flooding damage in Alton and all across our State, it does my heart proud to see that these folks have once again responded to this call.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker) is necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Booker) is necessarily absent.

Madam President, on a Spring day in April 1891 in Lombard, IL, Ellen Martin, an attorney, and 14 other women marched to their voting place at the local general store to do something most of us take for granted today. They demanded to be allowed to vote. The town charter enfranchised all citizens and did not mention sex.

Stunned polling judges were forced to allow Ellen Martin and the 14 to vote. One account had a judge so flabbergasted that he fell into a flour barrel.

But this momentary right to vote was short-lived. The Lombard town council quickly changed the charter to, once again, allow only men to vote, but the spark had been struck. Four months later, the Illinois State charter was changed to allow women to vote in local school elections.

It took 28 years after that day in April for American women to achieve the right to vote. On this 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, we honor Ellen Martin and the countless other supporters of women's suffrage.

Sadly, Ellen Martin died in 1916. She did not live to see the 19th Amendment pass.

The women of my home State of Illinois won limited voting rights in 1913 through the legendary work of Grace Wilbur Trout, Jane Addams, Frances Willard, and countless others. Women had the right to vote only for Presidential electors and most local offices, but not for Governor, State representatives, or Members of Congress.

In Chicago, icon Ida B. Wells-Barnett founded the Alpha Suffrage Club in 1913 to educate African-American women about the right to vote. Their power at the polls helped elect Chicago's first Black alderman, Oscar DePriest, in 1914.

Women continued to organize across the country as many States granted suffrage. Both parties' Presidential candidates endorsed women's suffrage in 1916, and Montana elected Jeannette Rankin to the House of Representatives. There were still many fights ahead, but slowly, the country came around to women's suffrage.

Five years after Illinois gave women the right to vote in some elections, Congress passed the 19th Amendment giving women the right in all elections. This was the same amendment Susan B. Anthony brought to Congress in 1878. More than 70 years after the Seneca Falls Convention, the suffragettes had persevered and succeeded.

I am proud to say Illinois was the first State to ratify the 19th Amendment, but the work is unfinished.

This Congress has the most women in its ranks in the history of the body. The first woman Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi returned to her leadership post with 102 women as her colleagues in the House of Representatives, including Representatives Cheri Bustos, Robin Kelly, Jan Schakowsky, and Lauren Underwood of my home State. I am privileged to work with 25 powerful women Senators, one of whom was the first Senator, Tammy Duckworth, to ever give birth while in office.

The force of history is demanding we do more to make this a fairer and equal country. We have more women in office than ever, and women are 51 percent of the electorate, but less than a third of elected legislative bodies are women. President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act in 1963; yet the pay gap between men and women is just as real today as it was then. Women are still earning 78 cents for every dollar earned by men. For women of color, the gap is even greater with African-American women making 64 cents, while Hispanic women make only 56 cents.

State after State are imposing draconian laws on reproductive rights. Roe v. Wade has never been in more danger. We have the duty and privilege of honoring the sacrifice of those who marched for women's suffrage by ensuring their heirs have the right to choose.

As we honor the passage of the 19th Amendment, let's not forget that we

are still waiting to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. In 2023, it will be one century since the first version of the Equal Rights Amendment was introduced. Women have waited long enough for its ratification. Our generation must get it done.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

I announce that the Senator from California (Ms. Harris), the Senator from Minnesota (Ms. Klobuchar), and the Senator from Massachusetts (Ms. Warren) are necessarily absent.

(Ms. McSALLY assumed the Chair.)