[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 166 (Thursday, September 24, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5844-S5845]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Election Security

  Mr. SCHUMER. Our adversaries sow disinformation in our society and 
seek to influence our elections. Vladimir Putin will stop at nothing to 
diminish Western democracies. A resurgent China wants to take America's 
place on the world stage. But the gravest threat to our democracy right 
now does not come from any foreign capital; it comes from our own. The 
gravest threat to democracy in America is President Donald Trump.
  Yesterday, at a news conference, President Trump refused to commit to 
the peaceful transfer of power should he lose the election in 41 days. 
Let me repeat that. Yesterday, at a news conference, President Trump 
refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he lose the 
election in 41 days. ``Well, we're going to have to see what happens,'' 
he said. ``I've been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and 
the ballots are a disaster.''

[[Page S5845]]

  Pressed further, the President said: ``Get rid of the ballots . . . 
there won't be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation.''
  ``Get rid of the ballots . . . there won't be a transfer, frankly. 
There will be a continuation.''
  Those are all his words: Get rid of voting; get rid of the ballots. 
Just let him stay in power whatever illicit way he chooses to do so. 
That is what he is saying.
  Now, everyone from school children to the most senior among us knows 
that the peaceful transfer of power is one of democracy's core 
attributes. There is no democracy without it. Like the rule of law, the 
separation of powers, checks and balances, everything we have learned 
that is great and noble about our system in government, President Trump 
has sullied, diminished, and now he threatens to actually dismantle. 
The greatest threat to American democracy right now is Donald Trump.
  The President issued similar threats in the runup to the 2016 
election, and he is doing it again now. If I win, the election is 
legitimate, argues the President, but if I lose, it is rigged. That is 
what he is saying now--again: If I win, the election is legitimate, but 
if I lose, it is rigged. By the way, I may just stay in office and not 
count the ballots.
  Unbelievable.
  The gravest threat to American democracy right now is President 
Trump. Save for a few, the Republican majority here in the Senate 
practically brushes by it: They don't know the full context. Oh, the 
President says crazy things. Maybe he was joking.
  They are willing to continue ramming through a Supreme Court Justice 
whom the President said is needed ``before the election . . . because 
[the election] will be before the United States Supreme Court.''
  Where are our Republican colleagues? This is not a partisan issue. 
Democracy is at stake. Every constituent from every corner of the land, 
regardless of party or ideology, should be asking the Republican 
Senators to speak out and demand that Donald Trump not be allowed to do 
what he says he is going to do and say they will join all of America in 
standing in the way if he tries.
  The most innocent interpretation of the President's comments is that 
he is just trying to get people not to vote: Mail-in voting is 
``rigged.'' I am going to stay anyway, he cries. ``Twelve more years,'' 
they chant at his rallies--all to erode American faith in the election 
and discourage Americans from voting. It doesn't matter how false, it 
doesn't matter how undemocratic, it doesn't matter how corrosive it is 
to our democracy, the President doesn't care. It is his own ego and 
nothing else. The President says it if he thinks it will help him win. 
That is the most innocent interpretation.
  If you take the President at his word, he wants to throw out ballots, 
refuse the peaceful transfer of power, and rush through a Supreme Court 
Justice to ensure that they could rule in his favor if the election is 
contested. That is him at his word.
  According to a new article in The Atlantic magazine, some Republicans 
are actually considering a scheme to override the will of the voters in 
certain States. Under this nefarious scheme, if the President loses a 
State controlled by Republicans, they would ignore the result; they 
would ignore what the voters ask for and send a rival slate of electors 
to Washington instead, deliberately provoking a constitutional crisis.
  Every American should read this article.
  Mr. President, I refer my colleagues to this link for the article: 
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/11/what-if-trump-
refuses-concede/616424/
 If you read these facts in a story about Belarus or Hungary, you 
might not bat an eye, but this is America. This is America. And here in 
America, our elections are sacrosanct. The peaceful transfer of power 
is our lifeblood. The rule of law is the very foundation of our 
society. These currents run deep in our veins and are far stronger than 
the flimsy authoritarianism of President Trump.
  President Trump, you are not a dictator, and America will not permit 
you to be one. We will not permit you to be one.
  This November, we will have an election. The votes will be counted. 
It may take a little longer than usual because so many people will vote 
by mail because of COVID, but the votes will be counted. There are 
numerous lawsuits making sure it happens, and those lawsuits are 
succeeding. The results of the election must be accepted. The peaceful 
transfer of power must follow. Otherwise, we will lose our democracy.
  At this perilous moment, every Republican in this Chamber should 
stand up and say that a President who isn't entirely sure if he will 
commit to a peaceful transfer of power isn't a President at all. Stand 
up and say he is wrong and that you don't want to live in a country 
where he is right. Pledge to uphold the pillars of our country. If 
Republicans stand up and say this is wrong, that may--may--be able to 
sway this President or his followers from repeating these attacks.
  And there is something every citizen can do, particularly those who 
are alarmed or discouraged by what President Trump said this week: 
Vote. The President cannot deny your right to vote. The answer to these 
naked threats to our democracy is more democracy: Vote.
  Don't let Trump intimidate or discourage you. Vote. Vote like our 
democracy is on the line because it is.
  Vote, vote, vote.