[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 218 (Friday, December 17, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S9274]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Voting Rights

  Mr. President, on voting rights, the fight to protect voting rights 
and restore the U.S. Senate is moving forward.
  Yesterday, I continued to have detailed discussions with many of my 
colleagues about how we are going to reach our goal of passing voting 
rights to ensure it takes effect before Americans return to the polls 
in the next election, so it can affect those 2022 elections which 
Republican legislators are so jaundicing.
  Last night, a number of my colleagues and I met with Marty Paone, a 
Senate rules expert who worked under several previous majority leaders, 
including Robert C. Byrd, about how we can restore the Senate so it can 
work the way our Founders intended, the way it has functioned for 
generations before the Republican gridlock of the past decade or so.
  Just now, I came from a meeting where both Marty Paone and Marty 
Gold--one a Democrat and one a Republican--counseled discussing how we 
can move forward on these issues, making the Senate work and getting 
voting rights done.
  Later today, Marty will join the Senate Democrats at our caucus 
meeting to continue this very important conversation--Marty Paone will.
  We have tried all year long to get Republicans to join us on a 
bipartisan effort to protect our democracy, but they have resisted, and 
they have blocked the Senate from having so much as a debate on this 
issue--a debate, not even a debate. Four votes, on three of them, every 
Republican voted not even to go forward in debating them--on the fourth 
vote, only one. Of course, under the rules of the Senate, as they are 
presently constituted, you need 10.
  Voting rights should not be a partisan issue. Both parties are better 
off if our democracy is strong and safeguarded against the Republican 
assaults playing out at the State level.
  The voting restrictions we are seeing passed in Republican-dominated 
State legislatures are the most egregious assaults on voting rights 
since the days of Jim Crow, and they are being passed entirely on a 
party-line basis--zero bipartisanship from these State legislator 
Republicans.
  Here in the Senate, we are going to keep at it because just because 
Republicans will not join us, does not mean Democrats will stop 
fighting on this issue. It is too important, and the fight continues.
  I yield the floor.

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