[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 184 (Wednesday, October 20, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7102-S7104]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Voting Rights

  Mr. REED. Mr. President, I rise today to join my colleagues in 
supporting S. 2747, the Freedom to Vote Act; and S. 4, the John Lewis 
Voting Rights Advancement Act; and S. 2615, the Right to Vote Act.
  As some States and political operatives around the country seek to 
roll back voter protection laws and gerrymander voting districts, 
Congress must act to strengthen the freedom to vote and ensure 
elections are safe and accessible.
  Since its original passage in 1965, the Voting Rights Act safeguarded 
the rights of historically marginalized voters at the polls.
  Sadly, the U.S. Supreme Court's 2013 ruling in Shelby County v. 
Holder gutted key Voting Rights Act protections. Earlier this year, in 
July 2021, the Supreme Court issued another split ruling further 
weakening the law in its decision in Brnovich v. DNC, making it more 
difficult to challenge discriminatory voting laws under section 2 of 
the Voting Rights Act.
  Over the years, this democracy has seen a crisis in access to the 
polls, and it has been worsened recently as Republican-led State 
legislatures have implemented policies that disproportionately suppress 
the voting rights of people of color, the elderly, college students, 
and those living in rural areas, among others. Those same political 
operatives have repeatedly weaponized false claims of election fraud, 
like those perpetuated by former President Trump, to try to overturn 
the will of the people.
  The right to vote is a fundamental right guaranteed by our 
Constitution and our desired responsibility to protect it. In the 
United States of America, a beacon of democracy, our elections must be 
open and transparent and follow a process and procedure that all 
Americans can trust. It is more important than ever for Congress to 
affirm that voters have a right to free and fair elections.
  The Freedom to Vote Act fulfills this constitutional responsibility 
by improving access to the ballot, advancing commonsense election 
integrity reforms, and protecting our democracy from emerging threats 
from cyber attacks to misinformation bots. It is not the job of 
government to make it hard to vote; rather, it is our responsibility to 
balance the convenience of voters with the security of their ballots. 
This legislation does just that.
  I also support the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which 
will repair the damage done by the Supreme Court's decisions by 
restoring the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division's 
oversight over historically discriminatory States when they change 
voting laws and legislative districts.
  The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would provide needed 
Federal oversight and serve as a check on communities that have engaged 
in a pattern of restricting voting rights and making it harder for 
minority voters to be counted.
  Finally, I support the Right to Vote Act, which would establish the 
first-

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ever statutory right to vote in Federal elections, therefore allowing 
Americans to enforce that right by challenging in court any policy that 
restricts ballot access.
  This legislation takes an enshrined right and empowers the people 
with the tools to defend it. This way, States attempting to restrict 
voting access will have to meet a high bar to justify any policy that 
makes it harder for U.S. citizens to participate in Federal elections.
  Restricting the ability of Americans to freely and fairly cast their 
ballots threatens the very core of our Nation's founding democratic 
principles.
  As Americans deal with the ongoing effects of COVID-19 and prepare 
for elections in the coming months and years, we should be removing--
not adding--unnecessary barriers to voting.
  While efforts to pass voting rights legislation have been stymied by 
Senate Republicans, you can be assured that I will continue to stand 
ready and willing to work with my colleagues in Congress to defend 
Americans' right to vote, end partisan gerrymandering, and prevent 
voter suppression.
  The vote today will allow us to begin a much-needed debate on the 
topic of voting rights. I ask my Republican colleagues to come to the 
table and join us in this conversation about how we can protect our 
elections and safeguard American democracy.
  I urge all my colleagues to support these important bills that would 
protect and advance voting rights in our country.
  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. LEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.


                   Unanimous Consent Request--S. 2842

  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, our Armed Forces have been asked to work 
miracles over the last 18 months, and they have performed. During a 
global pandemic, in the face of natural disasters, facing dangerous 
missions, our men and women in uniform have risen dutifully, faithfully 
to the challenge. Many of our servicemembers have contracted--and then 
recovered from--COVID-19 over the last 18 months. Now these same heroes 
are being placed in a corner by this administration.
  President Biden's COVID-19 vaccine requirement for the Armed Forces 
does not grant our soldiers, sailors, and marines the respect they 
deserve, and it could pose a challenge to recruitment and even to 
military readiness.
  This mandate, tied with President Biden's more sweeping general 
vaccine mandate, has put millions of Americans in difficult positions. 
In most cases, these are just everyday Americans. They are mothers and 
fathers, husbands and wives just trying to put food on the table during 
what has, for many, been a difficult time.
  These still unwritten but very much efficacious mandates are forcing 
millions of our fellow citizens into a sort of second-class, 
unemployable status, placing countless of our neighbors on the economic 
and social fringes of our society.
  I have heard from almost 300 Utahans in recent days who were worried 
about losing their jobs due to the mandates. Some of these individuals 
are heroic members of our military. These servicemembers were rightly 
praised for serving during a pandemic and for dangerous missions, but 
now are being forced out, possibly with limited or no retirement 
benefits because of the President's mandate.
  Let me just share with you a few of their stories. One soldier who 
reached out to me recently has served for 10 years in the military. He 
never received a single reprimand, whether written or verbal. He 
honorably and proudly served his Nation. He has been informed, despite 
his years of successful Active-Duty service, that he will not receive 
an honorable discharge if he doesn't comply with the vaccine 
requirement. Accordingly, he asked to resign from the military. His 
commanders made clear that he would be barred from resignation. Then he 
sought a personal religious exemption. He was summarily told that his 
exemption request would be denied.

  Of his situation, he said:

       To be backed into a corner with two very bad options is 
     both disheartening and sad, especially with what I have 
     sacrificed and what my family has sacrificed on behalf of the 
     military.

  Another soldier told me his story. He has been in the Army for 18 
years. All along, he was planning on retiring upon reaching two decades 
of service. He is about 18 months shy of reaching that point--just 18 
months from that retirement point that he has been working toward for 
nearly two decades. Now, because of the vaccine mandate, he is at risk 
of losing his benefits and not receiving an honorable discharge.
  Regarding his situation, he said:

       This will cause a substantial loss in pay and quality of 
     life for myself and a large number of others I know.

  A third soldier reached out to my office in a similar retirement 
situation. This soldier has children who experienced complications with 
receiving the vaccine. The soldier also has a child with significant 
learning disabilities, whom he is worried about providing for.
  He said:

       This really could be a life-changing event for my family, 
     and I feel strongly enough about it that I will risk all my 
     benefits not to take [the vaccine]. I just wish I had a 
     choice.

  Now, these stories just barely scratch the surface of the hundreds of 
stories that I have heard from people across my State, including many 
who are servicemembers. These people, like millions of other Americans, 
deserve a better option. They have earned that. That is why, today, I 
am asking that the Senate pass my Respecting our Servicemembers Act. 
This bill would simply prohibit the Secretary of Defense from requiring 
COVID-19 vaccination for our military. I am grateful to my colleagues 
Senators Braun and Tuberville for joining me as cosponsors.
  This is now the seventh time I have come to the Senate floor, asking 
that the Federal Government take a more temperate, reasoned approach. 
As I have said each time before, I am not anti-vaccine. In fact, I 
believe the development of the COVID-19 vaccine is a miracle. I have 
been vaccinated, and I have encouraged every member of my family to be 
vaccinated, and they have done so. I think the vaccine is a good thing. 
These mandates are simply the wrong way of getting it done.
  Look, when we look at the employer vaccine mandate generally, the 
President doesn't have the authority. In fact, the Federal Government 
doesn't have that authority. This is not a power that belongs to the 
Federal Government to begin with. You know, even if it did, we haven't 
authorized the President to do this unilaterally. Even if we had or 
even if we were now considering a measure that would give him that 
authority, it is worth noting here that there are so many other better, 
more reasoned ways to encourage vaccination.
  That is why I am here today, and that is why I will be back for as 
long as it takes to address these mandates, which are causing pain and 
suffering to hard-working moms and dads who don't want to have to be 
making a gut-wrenching choice between, on the one hand, receiving 
medical treatment that they don't want, whether for religious reasons 
or a health-related reason related to what their doctors have advised 
them or some other compelling personal reason or otherwise--they 
shouldn't have to choose between receiving medical treatment they don't 
want and forfeiting their ability to put bread on the table for their 
children. It is un-American, it is unfair, and it is immoral.
  So, Mr. President, as if in legislative session, I ask unanimous 
consent that the Committee on Armed Services be discharged from further 
consideration of S. 2842 and that the Senate proceed to its immediate 
consideration. I further ask unanimous consent that the bill be 
considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Rhode Island.
  Mr. REED. Mr. President, in reserving my right to object, on August 
24, the Secretary of Defense determined that the mandatory vaccination 
against COVID-19 was necessary to

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protect the force and defend the American people.
  Vaccination is not mandatory for any servicemember who has a 
legitimate medical or religious reason for not being vaccinated.
  Mandatory vaccinations are limited to only FDA-approved vaccines. All 
FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccines have been determined to be safe and 
effective.
  According to press reports, as of October 4, Active-Duty vaccination 
rates are as follows: the Army, 81 percent; the Navy, 90 percent; the 
Air Force, 80.9 percent; and the Marine Corps, 76.5 percent.
  Mandatory vaccination is not a new issue for military personnel. 
Mandatory vaccinations for critical illnesses are mission critical, and 
requiring vaccination is almost as old as the military itself. I can 
personally verify that point. Indeed, servicemembers are currently 
required to get 17 different vaccinations when they enter the military 
or before deploying overseas, including for measles, mumps, diphtheria, 
hepatitis, smallpox, and the flu.
  We need a healthy and ready force. We saw what happened when Navy 
ships were contaminated with COVID. They weren't ready to deploy. They 
couldn't deploy. They were tied up. Their effectiveness and ability to 
defend the country were marginalized, to say the least. I think this is 
absolutely incongruent with the practice and mission of the military.
  One other thing I would say is that one of the most fundamental 
ethics of the military is that every soldier, sailor, marine, airman, 
and guardian is prepared to sacrifice for their fellow servicemember, 
and the idea that one would put their own personal feelings ahead of 
the potential for contaminating or sickening another servicemember and 
affecting the unit is something that I don't think squares with the 
ethic of the U.S. military or the effectiveness of the force.
  I agree with the Secretary of Defense; therefore, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Colorado.
  Mr. BENNET. Thank you, Mr. President. I would ask the quorum call be 
vitiated.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate is not in a quorum call.
  Mr. BENNET. For once, the Senate is not in a quorum call. It is 
amazing. We are having an actual debate. I can't believe it. It has 
been so long since that has been true.