Floor Statements

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it recess until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, February 8; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of Proceedings be approved to date; that the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day and morning business be closed; that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Bush nomination; further, at 11:45 a.m. the Senate vote on the confirmation of the Howard and AliKhan nominations and that following the disposition of the AliKhan nomination, the Senate recess until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus meetings; that at 2:30 p.m., the Senate vote on confirmation of the Gutmann and Carty nominations; finally, if any nominations are confirmed during Tuesday's session, the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand in recess under the previous order.

Madam Vice President, I rise today with my Democratic colleagues in support of one fundamental idea, the cornerstone of our democracy: that every eligible citizen of this country has the right to vote and have their vote counted.

Cut to the chase, and that is what this about.

Passing the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would mean saying yes to basic, commonsense standards for free and fair elections; safeguarding our constitutional right to choose our own representatives; and going after dark money in our politics.

Failing to pass these bills means we will continue to allow Republican State legislatures to undermine our democracy by suppressing some people's access to their constitutional right to vote, based on who they are, where they live, and whether they are likely to vote Republican.

Today on the Senate floor, not a single Republican Senator is willing to join us Democrats in support of the Freedom to Vote Act and these commonsense standards for free and fair elections. This is a tragedy.

I have been listening to their arguments, and to be honest, they just don't hold water. Republicans argue that the Freedom to Vote Act is a ``Federal takeover of elections,'' or a power grab. This is ridiculous.

The Freedom to Vote Act preserves States' constitutional right to prescribe the ``times, places, and manner of holding elections,'' while ensuring that elections must meet basic standards that allow Americans to exercise their right to vote and to have their votes counted, free from discrimination.

Congress shares the constitutional responsibility for preserving our free and fair elections; article I, section 4, says that, ``Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations.'' Furthermore, the 15th, 19th, and 26th Amendments require that we ensure that the right of our citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race, color, sex, or age.

These State laws that Republican legislatures are passing are clearly discriminatory to young voters, Black and Latino voters, and Native voters. Countless studies have shown that these folks are more likely than White voters to be affected by voter purges, polling place closures, the restriction of early voting, and strict photo ID requirements. This isn't an accident or a coincidence. It is the point.

Our job, our constitutional responsibility, is to protect against discrimination just like this. Passing this bill isn't Federal overreach; it is our job.

Now, Republicans also argue that their voter suppression techniques aren't actually oppressive or discriminatory; they are designed to root out voter fraud. This is not only factually inaccurate--there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud--it is offensive.

In Ohio, voters in Democratic-leaning neighborhoods were purged from the voter rolls at twice the rate as in Republican neighborhoods. In Georgia, a 2018 voter roll purge removed over 50,000 voters. Over 80 percent of them were people of color. Other States, like Texas, have instituted draconian voter ID laws that disproportionately burden Black and Latino voters. This is a real problem, not a fake problem.

Colleagues, our voting laws reflect what we believe about who should have a voice in this country. They tell us who we are.

When Republican State legislatures limit voting hours, close polling places in Black neighborhoods, and restrict early and absentee voting, they seek to silence some voices: young people, voters of color, and voters in poor neighborhoods. When Republicans narrow the window when people can vote, they make it harder for some folks to exercise their right to vote--people with multiple jobs or irregular schedules, people with childcare or transportation challenges, seniors, people with disabilities, and anyone who can't afford to wait in an hours-long line at their polling place.

We cannot ignore--or pretend not to see--the line connecting these discriminatory State laws and the dark history of Jim Crow, our country's legacy of denying some people, as my colleague Reverend Warnock says, their constitutional rights.

If we want to make more voices heard, we know what to do. My home State of Minnesota consistently has the highest voter turnout in the Nation. This happens because we have strong voting laws that empower people to make their voices heard while keeping our elections safe and secure. We have online and same-day voter registration, vote-by-mail and early voting, and voters have the right to take time off of work to vote in all State and Federal elections. We have paper ballots to ensure election integrity. These policies work to expand ballot access and improve voter turnout. The Freedom to Vote Act would implement many of them as minimum national standards.

So why are Republicans united in their opposition to this bill? The simplest answer is they believe they can't win if more people's voices are heard and counted.

In Georgia in 2020, when Senate Democrats saw voters waiting up to 10 hours to cast their votes and Black voters waiting much longer than White voters, we wrote a bill that would expand access to early voting, vote-by-mail, and make election day a Federal holiday. Republican State legislators in Georgia saw the same thing and passed a law to make it a crime to give food or water to voters waiting in line, remove drop boxes, and restrict voting by mail. For the past several years, Republicans have engaged in a coordinated strategy of voter suppression. According to the Brennan Center, in 2021 alone, 19 States passed over 30 laws restricting voting rights.

Today in the Senate, every single Democrat is united in our effort to protect people's right to vote. And today, all 50 Republicans will block passage of this voting rights legislation.

We may lose this battle today, which is heartbreaking. It is maddening that a majority of U.S. Senators, representing 41 million more people than

our Republican colleagues, cannot pass a bill to make critical election reforms that are supported by strong majorities of Americans, all because of an arcane Senate rule. That is just not right, and it is long past time to fix it. In a democracy, after the debate is done, a majority of the people decide. That is how it works in township meetings, in city halls and county board meetings, in State legislatures, and that is how it should work in the U.S. Senate.

But this fight won't be over today. I have faith that, eventually, we will win. I have faith, not because I believe in the inevitability of progress, but because I have faith in the righteousness of this fight, and I have faith in our democracy.

Dr. King taught us that progress is not a straight line. The story of change in this country, more often than not, is a story of people practicing their civic faith through defeat, people doing the work despite not having the votes, people who keep putting one foot in front of the other because they believe they will reach their destination, even if they can't quite see the path to get there. I am honored to walk that path with the thousands of organizers, activists, and voters who share that civic faith.

I urge my colleagues to vote yes on the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Mr. President, I rise today with my colleagues, and I would like to particularly thank my colleague, the senior Senator from Minnesota, for bringing us together today.

I rise today with my colleagues to commemorate the first anniversary of January 6--the attack on our Capitol and the attempted coup to overturn our democracy.

You know, I have thought a lot about this day over the last year, and I speak today because I think it is important that we are clear about what happened on January 6, how it connects to what has happened since, and what needs to happen next. So let me be direct.

On January 6, there was a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol, led by insurrectionists with the explicit goal to overturn our free and fair elections and the election of Joe Biden. The attack happened because former President Trump and his allies encouraged his supporters to come to Washington. They told them, falsely, that the election had been stolen. He incited them to violence. Then he sat and watched while the Capitol was attacked. These are the facts, and there was no attempt to hide it. It is as plain as that wintery January day.

Now, I am sure that all of us in this room have vivid memories of what happened on that day. Moments of crisis leave a deep impression. For us, of course, this violence happened in our workplace while we were doing our jobs. The Capitol, on January 6, was full of Members of Congress, of national political leaders of both parties, and of a Vice President whom the former President had exhorted his angry mob to hunt down. It was also, though, full of journalists, custodians, and cafeteria workers. In this Chamber were our clerks and colleagues and Parliamentarians and the stenographers. They are here, hour after hour, making this place work.

You are public servants who were thrown into violent chaos and danger by the former President.

As for law enforcement and first responders, let's remember that January 6 was one of the worst days for injuries to law enforcement since 9/11, as a violent mob bludgeoned and crushed and wounded and killed. That is what happened, and no amount of whitewashing is going to change it.

It also happened, when we came back into this Chamber to finish our jobs and to certify the people's votes, that some Republicans spoke the truth about the terrible tragedy of that day.

Senator McConnell said:

The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the President

and other powerful people.

Senator Lindsey Graham, sitting right over there, declared in reference to the disgraced former President:

Count me out. Enough is enough.

So, for a moment, it seemed like we would unify in condemning the political violence incited by a President who had betrayed our fundamental democratic principles, but later that night, Senator Cruz and Senator Hawley and six other Senators voted to overturn our free and fair elections, continuing down this reckless path.

Within days, Republican Party leaders and rightwing media outlets began turning away from the facts of January 6. Former President Trump was impeached for his seditious actions, but his hold on the Republican Party was so strong that only seven Republican Senators voted to convict.

Republicans, to this day, continue to promote the Big Lie that the election was stolen from Trump. They claim that the people who stormed the Capitol with zip ties and bludgeons were tourists. They have attempted to portray the violent insurgents as martyrs rather than as domestic terrorists. This is why, today, 58 percent of Republicans believe, falsely, that the election was stolen from President Trump.

The insurrection and coup attempt on January 6 was, ultimately, unsuccessful, but this fight continues in State legislatures across the country, and they are prevailing. According to the Brennan Center, in 2021, 19 States passed laws restricting Americans' voting rights and giving partisan officials, Republicans, unprecedented control over the certification of election results.

Their plan is right out there in plain view. Step 1 is to make it harder for some people to vote. Step 2 is to give partisans at the local level the power to ignore and overturn the people's votes. This is a coordinated strategy connected directly to the events of January 6, and it is the path to overturning our democracy if we allow it. We cannot allow it.

Through the January 6 Commission and through the Department of Justice, we must hold accountable those responsible for the crimes of that infamous day, including those at the top. We also need to pass the Freedom to Vote Act, which provides for basic standards for free and fair elections and fulfills the promise of our Nation that, in this democratic Republic, the people decide.

Not a single Republican Senator is willing to join us Democrats in this endeavor, and that is a tragedy.

Colleagues, I implore you: We cannot let Republicans hide behind Senate rules and block us from taking this commonsense step to protecting our democracy.

In a democracy, a majority of the people decides. That is how it works in township meetings and city halls and county board meetings and in State legislatures, and that is how it should work in the U.S. Senate. We Senators have the power to protect our democracy, and we have no excuse not to use that power.

On January 6, I woke up early, and I wrote down a few thoughts as I was heading to the Capitol. I had been sworn into office for the third time in 3 years just a few days before. My husband, Archie, had been with me for the swearing in, and he had headed home the day before.

As he left, he said: Are you going to be OK?

And I said to him: For sure. The U.S. Capitol is one of the safest places in the country. I am going to be fine.

Here is what I wrote that morning before I came to the Capitol.

I wrote:

Today is a remarkable day. This morning, I'm filled with

optimism. Georgians turned out in record numbers to elect

Reverend [Ralph] Warnock [to the U.S. Senate], pastor of Dr.

King's home church. And it looks very likely that Jon Ossoff

will be victorious, giving Democrats a majority in the

Senate. For me, this means the work that Minnesotans sent me

to do in Washington can actually get done.

``We will get through this day,'' I wrote that morning.

I truly believe our democracy is resilient and can

withstand this desperate coup attempt. But it's a reminder of

how hard we [need] to fight for our core principles, that no

one is above the law and that . . . a democracy [is when] the

people decide.

Now, little did I know. But my optimism still holds, and my faith also still holds--my faith that we can be worthy of the promise laid out in our Constitution.

``We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Prosperity''--that is our oath and our promise.

Thank you.

I yield the floor.

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

Mr. President, I have 5 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority Leaders.

Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate:

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

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule XXII, at 10:30 a.m., on Thursday, October 21, the Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Lin, Parker, and Perez nominations, in that order; and that if cloture is invoked on any of the nominations, all postcloture time will be considered expired at 1:45 p.m.; further, that if cloture is invoked on the Lin nomination, the confirmation vote occur at 1:45 p.m. on Thursday; finally, that if cloture is invoked on either the Parker or Perez nominations, the confirmation votes begin at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, October 25.

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

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 2899 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m., Thursday, October 21; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Lin nomination, as provided under the previous order; further, that if the Lin nomination is confirmed, the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table and the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action.

For the information of Senators, the first rollcall vote of the day will be at approximately 10:30 a.m.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of Senators Tuberville, Marshall, and Hoeven.

Mr. President, I yield back our remaining time.

Vote on Motion to Discharge

I ask for the yeas and nays.