[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 193 (Wednesday, November 3, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7688-S7689]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Voting Rights

  Now on voting rights. Shortly before his death, the great John Lewis 
offered the American people a parting message: When you see something 
that is not right, you must say something. You must do something. 
Democracy is not a state. It is an act, and each generation must do its 
part to help build what we call the Beloved Community.
  The words of the great late John Lewis.
  Well, today, the Senate is being called to take action because, 
across our beloved democracy, something indeed is not right. Something 
malicious is afoot. A lie--a terrible lie--spread by the former 
President of the United States is eating away corrosively at the 
foundation of our democracy, of our democratic heritage, like a 
disease.
  This lie has led to the greatest coordinated effort at the State 
level to suppress voting rights since the era of segregation. In States 
like Georgia and Texas, Iowa and Florida and Arizona and many others, 
partisans have rewritten the rules of our elections in broad daylight, 
potentially making it harder for tens of millions of young, minority, 
low-income, disabled, and generally Democratic-leaning voters from 
participating in elections.
  Today, the Senate will have a chance to respond to these attacks by 
voting to simply begin consideration--simply begin consideration--of 
the John Lewis

[[Page S7689]]

Voting Rights Advancement Act. It is a commonsense proposal to 
reinstate the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act which 
were wrongfully struck down by a conservative Supreme Court and which 
have a long history of bipartisan support in the Senate.
  I want to thank my colleague Senator Leahy, who spoke earlier today, 
and Chairman Durbin and all of my other Democratic colleagues who had a 
hand in drafting this proposal, and a special thanks to our colleague, 
the Senator from Alaska, who announced yesterday that she will vote in 
favor of opening debate on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement 
Act. I know it was not a decision she made lightly--she called me from 
Alaska and let me know--but my Democratic colleagues worked hard with 
her to compromise on a proposal that she could support while still 
maintaining the basic thrust of their legislation.
  Now, just as Democrats in the Senate worked with Senator Murkowski on 
legislation to strengthen our democracy, we will work with other 
Republicans in good faith to improve this legislation, but they must 
come to the table first. I want to emphasize once again what today's 
vote is about. We are not asking any Republican to support specific 
legislation. Today is about whether or not we will vote to begin debate 
here in this Chamber.
  Again, the preclearance provisions that are being updated in today's 
bill have long been supported by both sides of the aisle repeatedly. 
The Voting Rights Act, which originally instituted them, has been 
updated five times in the last half century, under both Republican and 
Democratic Presidents, and with votes from both sides. This has always 
been a bipartisan issue in the past; it should be no different today.
  I commit to my Republican colleagues that we will have a full-fledged 
debate process here on the floor, where our colleagues can offer 
germane amendments and voice what concerns they may have.
  Now, I hope more Members on the other side of the aisle will follow 
Senator Murkowski's example. Senate Republicans shouldn't be afraid of 
merely starting debate on an issue we have long debated and long 
supported in the past. Merely crossing arms and squelching any 
opportunity for progress is unacceptable. If Republicans have different 
ideas on how to achieve a stronger democracy, they owe it to the 
American people to come forward and debate their ideas. I hope they do 
the right thing and vote for cloture to move forward on this discussion 
later today.