[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 185 (Thursday, October 21, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7135-S7136]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Voting Rights

  Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, on voting rights, yesterday, this 
Chamber had an opportunity to begin debate on protecting the voting 
rights of American citizens. That right, essential to any democracy, is 
under attack in ways we have not seen in generations.
  Despite the obvious danger, Senate Republicans crushed any 
opportunity this Chamber had to even begin a debate on the Freedom to 
Vote Act. We didn't ask Republicans to sign their names to any policy. 
We simply asked them to come to the table so the Senate can work as 
intended, and they refused.
  Let there be no mistake, Senate Republicans blocking debate yesterday 
was their implicit endorsement of the horrid new voter suppression and 
election subversion laws passed in conservative States across the 
country. When they wouldn't debate, they said these horrid new laws 
that suppress voters, that subvert our elections are OK.
  It is ludicrous--ludicrous--for Republicans to pretend that the 
Federal Government has no role to play in defense of our liberties. Of 
course, it does. They should read the Constitution.
  But despite Republican opposition, the fight to protect our democracy 
is far from over in the U.S. Senate. Voting rights are too precious, 
too fundamental to abandon because of obstruction from the minority.
  As soon as next week, I am prepared to bring another proposal to the 
floor, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
  The Voting Rights Act has historically been bipartisan, but following 
the gutting of the law by recent Supreme Court rulings, the Voting 
Rights Act needs to be restored, and the Senate ought to, at a minimum, 
be permitted to debate.
  The reflexive obstruction from Senate Republicans is not--is not--how 
the Senate is supposed to work. Not long ago, this Chamber operated 
differently, in a way more befitting the world's greatest deliberative 
body: debate, compromise, amend, and legislate--all with the purpose of 
helping the American people, even when people's views of how to do that 
differed. There was a debate and amendment.
  We need to restore that legacy. We need to work to restore the Senate 
as the world's greatest deliberative body so we can better serve the 
needs of our Nation. Republicans blocking one bill after another, even 
from consideration, is not that.
  The fight to protect our fundamental liberties is as old as the 
country itself, and we can take note from the lessons of history. In 
the aftermath of the Civil War, the majorities in Congress passed 
transformative measures, like the 14th and 15th Amendments to the 
Constitution--and other civil rights bills--expanding liberty to tens 
of millions previously deprived of it.

[[Page S7136]]

  These are some of the crowning achievements of this body, but if you 
were in Congress back then, that is hardly how they were viewed by some 
at the time. Back then, the minority party refused to provide even a 
single vote to pass these laws--not even one. The minority condemned 
them as partisan tools of the angry, vengeful north; a power grab.
  The minority refused to come to the table, so the majority was 
willing to act alone--act alone--to pass civil rights legislation. It 
wasn't partisan; it was patriotic. Their actions made our democracy 
stronger, and they were willing to do what was necessary, including 
going it alone to defend our freedoms. Today, we feel the same way.
  The question now before the Senate is how we will find a path forward 
on protecting our freedoms in the 21st century. The Members of this 
Chamber can take inspiration from the great patriots of the past who 
put country over party, or they can cross their arms and watch as our 
240-year-old experiment in democracy falls prey to the specters of 
authoritarian control.