[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 46 (Tuesday, March 10, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Page S1643]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           FOR THE PEOPLE ACT

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, H.R. 1--this past Sunday marked one 
year since the House passed H.R. 1, the For the People Act. This bill 
takes urgent and long overdue steps to renew our democracy. It will 
reverse the corrupting effects of Citizens United. It will restore 
protections for voting. And it will take aim at Washington's culture of 
corruption, which has run rampant under this administration.
  It could not come at a better time. Every election, we see the 
sweeping power of big money. State legislatures have found new ways to 
deny Americans, often minorities, access to the ballot. Our 
adversaries--including the Russians--work day and night to influence 
our elections and sow confusion in the public sphere. H.R. 1 would 
forcefully and directly address each of these issues. But, like every 
other bill passed by the House over the past 2 years, it has been 
buried in Leader McConnell's legislative graveyard. We must move it. 
This bill is about making our democracy work and giving American 
citizens some faith in the future.
  Republicans, rather than working with Democrats to strengthen our 
democracy, have stood in the way. They have blocked election security 
legislation and sanctions to deter foreign adversaries from trying to 
interfere in our democracy. They have enabled President Trump's assault 
on the separation of powers through their silence on the President's 
many abuses of power. Even today, the Republicans are putting forward a 
nominee for the Federal Election Commission who expressed doubts 
regarding the benefits of even the most reasonable restrictions on 
campaign spending, including disclosure.
  When H.R. 1 first passed the House, Leader McConnell called this bill 
to restore voting rights and get money out of politics a ``terrible 
proposal'' and a ``power grab.'' If Leader McConnell thinks that 
getting big money out of politics is a terrible idea, if he truly 
believes making it easier for Americans to vote is a power grab by 
Democrats, then God help the Republican Party and God help this 
country.
  Democrats will not stop fighting for this bill, nor will we ever stop 
fighting to restore the democratic values that have guided our Nation 
for 2\1/2\ centuries. In the United States, each person's vote should 
have the same weight as everyone else's. That is a hallmark of our 
democracy. A fair and free election is the wellspring of our democracy. 
It is what Americans have died for in the battlefields around the 
world, what civil rights activists have marched for across the bridges 
and the generations. And though the Republican leader has been adamant 
in his opposition to this legislation, the American people, thank God, 
will have a chance this November to elect a new Senate that will move 
this country in a dramatically different direction.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________