[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 21, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5009-S5010]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Elections

  Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, I come to the floor to talk about the 
need for integrity in our elections.
  On Monday, the Democrats on the Rules Committee took a field trip. 
The Democrats went to Georgia. They continued their efforts there to 
start a panic about election laws. Now, I am sure they will take more 
field trips in the months ahead. Taking over State election laws seems 
to be the Democrats' No. 1 priority. It was their No. 1 bill in the 
House, H.R. 1. It was their No. 1 bill in the Senate, S. 1. The 
Democrats claim that they are only responding to reforms passed in the 
States, and they say it is just the reforms passed in the States this 
year. Yet the election takeover bills that the Democrats have 
introduced were first drafted years ago. It is not in response to 
anything.
  Don't let the Democrats kid you. It is an attack on States' rights 
and an attempt to stack the deck. After Democrats took over Washington, 
they rushed this takeover bill right through the House of 
Representatives, with Nancy Pelosi at the helm. Then they tried to rush 
a similar bill through the Senate, and they failed. Senator Schumer 
continues to say the Democrats will try again.
  At the State level, most recently in Texas, the Democrats are 
obstructing the democratic process in order to block election reforms 
from becoming law. Rather than allow an election reform bill to pass, 
Texas Democrats fled the State. They took private jets to Washington, 
DC. They hobnobbed with the Vice President, and they hobnobbed with the 
Speaker of the House and with many Democratic Senators. They sent out a 
lot of fundraising emails in the process, and they did a lot of 
television interviews. They took a lot of pictures of themselves, 
published them on social media, and told everyone they were making a 
heroic effort. They said it was a sacrifice.
  Well, six of the Democrats became infected with the coronavirus. Then 
they spread the virus. It wasn't enough they infected each other; they 
spread the virus to staffers at the White House and here on Capitol 
Hill. It was a political stunt, and it turned into a coronavirus 
superspreader event, and I am sure they still consider themselves 
heroes. The hypocrisy is astonishing.
  In the name of the democratic process, they actually blocked the 
democratic process, disregarded the will of the voters, and shut down 
the function of State government. They took a joyride on a private jet 
and endangered the health of many others. They believe in winning at 
any cost, and they put democracy in second place. This whole stunt is 
not about voter rights; it is about power. The Democrats are going to 
keep trying to keep the panic alive.
  President Biden went to Philadelphia last week, and he spread even 
more falsehoods about the law. Now, I can understand why President 
Biden is doing everything he can to change the subject from the 
failures of his current administration. We have an open southern border 
that Americans are very disturbed about; we have surging violence in 
Democratic cities in the streets; and we have rising inflation that is 
hitting every family in America. Of course, President Biden doesn't 
want to talk about his one failure after another after another. So, 
instead, he throws rhetorical grenades at the Republicans, and he tells 
stories.
  The Democrats' scare tactics on State voting laws are not going to 
work.
  Their claims are false, and they have been repeatedly disproved.
  The American people are finding out what is in the Democrats' 
election bills, and they do not like it. It is not pretty. It is ballot 
harvesting, which people reject. It is automatic voter registration, 
which many, many reject. It is taxpayer funding of political activities 
and campaigns, which Americans reject. It is giving the vote to felons 
on parole, which Americans reject.

[[Page S5010]]

  It is 800 pages of mandates, which Americans hate, and it is banning 
voter ID laws nationwide at a time when voters across the country from 
both parties, all political persuasions, think voter ID laws are 
critical to ballot integrity and security. The more the American people 
find out what is in these bills, the more they oppose them.
  You know, it has never been easier to vote in the United States. You 
take a look at the statistics from this past election year, never been 
easier. The American people know it.
  American people support commonsense laws, which make it easier to 
vote and harder to cheat, but they do not support the Democrats' 
radical election takeover.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Louisiana.