[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 217 (Thursday, December 16, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9249-S9250]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                               Elections

  Ms. HASSAN. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about a grave threat 
that we face, a threat to the very idea of America.
  By law, every 2 years, Americans cast their votes for Federal office 
on a Tuesday in early November. Like many Americans, I have always 
treasured that day. I have gone to my polling place, and I have cast my 
vote. When I have left, usually from a townhall or a school, I have 
done so with the confidence that the votes would be counted, a winner 
declared, and my town, my State, and my country would move forward, 
accepting the results not because of which candidates won but because 
of our confidence that the election system was run impartially by 
people who believe in our democracy and believe that democracy is about 
free, fair, and impartially administered elections.
  This great democracy of ours depends on the existence of a free and 
fair casting and telling of the votes and the public's acceptance of 
that result. That is the prerequisite for a functioning democracy, and 
every other piece of our society, from our economy to our national 
security, depends on it.
  Without free, fair, and impartially administered elections, the 
United States of America as we know it would not exist. Yet, right now, 
our beloved democracy is under attack.
  In States around the country, partisan lawmakers are proposing to 
ignore properly cast votes, essentially trying to throw out the votes 
and silence the voices of those with whom they disagree. These 
partisans are more concerned about losing power than protecting the 
rights of citizens and preserving the foundation of our country.
  Here in Washington, a set of arcane Senate rules are being used as an 
excuse not to act. This cannot stand. We must change the rules to allow 
a simple majority of this body, as our Founders intended, to pass laws 
that will protect the right to vote and protect American democracy.
  In States across the country, partisan politicians are calling into 
question the sacred American right to free, fair, and impartially 
administered elections. These politicians are trying to reject the will 
of the people, trying to interfere with elections and, yes, overturn 
results. This is not an idle threat; it is happening right now.
  As the Presiding Officer well knows, earlier this year in Georgia, a 
new law enabled the legislature to seize control of the State election 
board, allowing elected legislators to install a partisan majority 
beholden to that legislature, with the ability to suspend and replace 
local election officials.
  In Arizona, legislators have proposed a bill that would enable the 
State legislature to override an election certification with a simple 
majority vote.
  These efforts threaten the integrity of our election system. That, in 
turn, threatens our peace, stability, and certainty--the very rule of 
law that makes individual liberty, a vibrant economy, and, yes, the 
peaceful transfer of power possible.
  There is no single aspect of American life that isn't related to 
free, fair, and impartially administered elections. We have public 
schools, safe neighborhoods, access to healthcare, support for small 
businesses, and access to the great outdoors all because ordinary 
Americans can make their voices heard and hold their government--a 
government of, by, and for the people--accountable.
  In America, as imperfect as we are, everybody has the opportunity to 
succeed because everyone has the opportunity to vote. But that all 
changes when our election system is corrupted by politicians who are 
more interested in clinging to power than being responsive to the 
people whom they were elected to represent.
  When those in power work to create a partisan electoral system where 
the focus is not on ensuring that every vote is counted but is instead 
on ensuring a predetermined outcome, those in power become less and 
less responsive to the will of the people. And as citizens become 
disenfranchised and angry, those in power increasingly rely on 
authoritarian methods to stay in power. That is the road that we risk 
going down if this systematic undermining of our elections and our 
democracy continues.

  Authoritarian regimes like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea would 
like nothing more than to see our great American experiment fail, to 
see Members of this Congress stand by while our democracy withers on 
the vine. When Americans lose trust in our democracy, when the 
integrity of our elections is thrown into doubt, neither Republicans 
nor Democrats win; our enemies do.
  But we in the Senate can stop this threat to our democracy by acting 
to

[[Page S9250]]

protect the fundamental right to vote. The Constitution gives Congress 
the power to oversee Federal elections. That means that Congress has 
the authority to protect democracy and the right to vote, and we have a 
constitutional and moral obligation to do so. That was part of the oath 
I swore, to ``support and defend the Constitution'' and ``bear true 
faith and allegiance to the same.''
  Congress has a responsibility to act now to ensure that the right of 
every American to vote is never taken away. We must pass legislation to 
prevent partisan politicians from rejecting the will of the people and 
overturning election results. Because that effort here in Congress is 
being blocked by a minority, which is abusing its power, I believe the 
time has come to change the Senate rules to allow a straight up-or-down 
majority vote on this fundamental issue of democracy.
  Our Founders understood that our democracy was a fragile thing that 
we would always have to fight to protect. Across every generation, 
Americans have signed up to serve not just to protect our physical 
security but to protect our freedom.
  American soldiers, like my father, fought in World War II. They saved 
the world from Hitler, preserving freedom around the globe. My dad 
fought in the Battle of the Bulge. When I was growing up and we were 
having breakfast, Dad would sometimes look up at my brother, my sister, 
and me, and he would say, ``So what are you going to do for freedom 
today?'' Sounds like kind of a big question to ask a kid, but he was 
serious because every single American has a responsibility to help 
protect our democracy, including and perhaps especially U.S. Senators.
  We must change the Senate rules to protect the right to vote because 
if we don't, we face a very different kind of election day than the one 
we have now. If the partisans who are attacking our democracy have 
their way, our Tuesday election day in early November will be 
different. We will wake up, cast our vote, drop our kids at school, and 
go to work. We will tune back in at the end of the day to see the 
election results, only to learn that the vote tally is being ignored, 
that our votes don't matter much. We will learn that our legislatures 
are going to throw out the results and pick their own winner. We will 
see an election day that is a charade just like in countries where 
democracy doesn't exist.
  Our democracy is too important to allow a minority of this body to 
let it slip away. We must pass legislation to protect American 
democracy. Our country depends on it.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.

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