[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 192 (Tuesday, November 2, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7577-S7578]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



              John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act

  Mr. President, on a very related issue, the John Lewis Voting Rights 
Advancement Act, last night, I took the necessary procedural steps to 
set up a vote on Wednesday in the Senate on the John Lewis Voting 
Rights Advancement Act. Tomorrow, the Senate is going to take a first 
vote on whether or not we debate--merely debate--a bill to reinstate 
the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act, which has long 
had bipartisan support in this Chamber--bipartisan support--in the 
past.
  Our democracy relies on the guarantee of free and fair elections to 
survive, but across the country, we are witnessing a coordinated 
assault on the right to vote and even on how elections are conducted, 
tallied, and potentially decided--a true threat to the ultimate 
foundation of our democracy.
  In the past, preclearance helped put a check on the worst abuses from 
the States, but a conservative majority on the Supreme Court in 2013, 
in one of the worst decisions in recent memory, effectively crippled 
preclearance, wrongly suggesting that it was no longer needed. We have 
seen how wrong that decision was in the years since 2013 and 
particularly now. Boy, were they wrong. In the years since that 
decision, the floodgates have opened for some of the most draconian 
restrictions to the franchise that we have seen since the era of 
segregation.
  The clock is ticking for the Senate to stop these attacks. Starting 
next year, State legislatures will return to session, and many will 
surely build on the flurry of restrictive laws we are already seeing in 
States like Georgia and Texas. So if there is any issue that deserves 
debate in this Chamber, it should be protecting voting rights.
  The Voting Rights Act has long enjoyed bipartisan support in this 
Chamber. Nixon, Reagan, and Bush all signed into law updates to the 
legislation. In

[[Page S7578]]

fact, many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle proudly 
previously worked on and supported passage of those updates, including 
preclearance provisions. It should be no different today.
  For months, Senate Democrats have bent over backwards to find common 
ground with Republicans on the critical issue of protecting the freedom 
to vote. We have urged Senate Republicans to engage, to offer their 
ideas, to come together to guarantee free and fair elections to all 
Americans. I have made clear time and time again: Democrats are open 
for business; we want Republicans to engage. I am prepared to offer an 
open and honest, full-fledged process here on the Senate floor 
tomorrow, where Republican amendments will be made in order and allowed 
and debated, but for that to happen, Republicans must come to the table 
when we vote tomorrow. We can't force so much as a debate if at least 
10 Republicans don't join us and vote in favor of letting the Senate do 
its work on this most important, this most vital of issues.
  Senate Republicans shouldn't be afraid of merely starting debate on 
an issue we have long debated in this body and long supported in a 
bipartisan way in the past. If they have different ideas on how to 
achieve a stronger democracy, they owe it to the American people to 
come forward and debate their ideas. Simply standing silent with their 
arms crossed, refusing to allow the Senate to function, is 
unacceptable.