[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 191 (Monday, November 1, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S7524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              JOHN R. LEWIS VOTING RIGHTS ADVANCEMENT ACT

  Mr. SCHUMER. Now, Madam President, on the John R. Lewis Voting Rights 
Advancement Act and cloture, the fight to protect our democracy from 
voter suppression and election subversion continues in the U.S. Senate. 
Later this evening, I will file cloture on the motion to proceed to the 
John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, setting up a vote to take 
place on Wednesday.
  This bill, which my friends, Senators Leahy and Durbin, worked 
assiduously to put together, will restore the key protections of the 
Voting Rights Act--the crowning achievement of the civil rights era--
that were wrongly gutted in one of the worst decisions the Supreme 
Court has made in a long time--in 2013, the Shelby decision--done by a 
conservative majority on the Court.
  Specifically, the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would 
update the preclearance protections that prohibited States with records 
of voter suppression from making changes to election law without 
Federal approval.
  Recent history makes absolutely clear that we need these protections 
on the books. Thanks to the Shelby decision, we now live in an era of 
increased voter suppression in the United States. After that decision, 
States like Texas and North Carolina, sadly, sprang into action to make 
it harder for minority, younger, and lower income people to vote. Many 
more States followed years later, and we are suffering the consequences 
of that decision to this day.
  Few of the Justices had thought, I believe, that we didn't need these 
preclearances because there is no more voter discrimination. Lord, were 
they wrong. We must reverse their awful Shelby decision.
  If there is anything that merits debate here in the Senate, it is 
protecting the precious right of Americans to participate in our 
elections. Since its original passage, the Voting Rights Act has been 
updated five times--five times--with support from both Democrats and 
Republicans. We should, likewise, proceed this time around on this 
time-honored measure.
  I want to make clear: If the Senate votes to proceed on to the John 
R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, I am prepared to offer a full-
fledged debate befitting this great Chamber. Republicans will be given 
the chance to raise their objections, to offer amendments, and to make 
changes to the bill. I know that both parties have serious 
disagreements on this important issue, so we want to hear from the 
other side what they propose. But for that to happen, we need to start 
debate first; we need to vote to allow the Senate to work through its 
process; we need 60 votes simply to say we will debate this issue. We 
will get a chance to see what happens this week.
  Time is really getting short for the Senate to take action on voting 
rights before Americans go to the polls in the 2022 elections. It is 
essential that we restore preclearance protections before the start of 
next year, when States are set to consider another round of restrictive 
voting rights laws when their legislative sessions start in the spring.
  Indeed, the dangerous and draconian Republican laws we have seen in 
2021 are only the beginning if this body doesn't take action, and they 
are a very serious threat to our democracy--one of the greatest threats 
to democracy that has come around in a long time.
  So I hope both parties will proceed on legislation that has long 
enjoyed bipartisan support in this Chamber. Our democracy demands we 
act.
  I yield the floor.

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