[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 9 (Thursday, January 13, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S195-S197]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
VOTING RIGHTS
Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, on defending democracy--something
Leader Reid would have been passionate about, if he were still with us
here, and he is telling us that now--over the next few days, the U.S.
Senate will face a critical and unavoidable question: Are its Members
going to act to protect our democracy and protect voting rights or will
its Members choose the path of obstruction, inaction, and side with the
Big Lie overtaking our precious experiment in self-rule?
We had two professors come to us 2 days ago, the authors of ``How
Democracies Die,'' and one of the main ways that democracies die is
when one political party refuses to accept the results of an election
that was run freely and fairly. That is what is happening here. They
showed how important this is and how there is unfortunate historical
precedent in doing what we did.
And earlier this week, President Biden made that clear. He made clear
to the Nation--and to all of us who serve in the Senate--that the time
to answer the question about whether allowing the Big Lie, so ruinous
to a democracy, to overtake our precious experiment in self-rule will
prevail.
As the Senate has done many times in its history, it must soon act
again to safeguard democracy from the dangers of the present day: the
power of dark money, voter suppression, and efforts to subvert the
democratic process from the bottom up.
I commend President Biden for offering a strong speech, and I look
forward to having him join Senate Democrats later today at our caucus
meeting to discuss the path forward.
Yesterday, I shared with my Democratic colleagues our plan for what
the next few days are going to look like in this Chamber and how I, as
majority leader, will move to finally begin, at last, a floor debate on
the voting rights legislation.
Later today, the House of Representatives will pass a message that
will include the language of the two bills Republicans have
filibustered for months--the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis
Voting Rights Advancement Act.
As permitted under the existing rules, we will have the ability to
proceed to the legislation and debate it on a simple majority basis--
something that has been denied to us four times in the last several
months because Republicans didn't want to move forward. Then the Senate
will finally hold a debate on the voting rights legislation for the
first time in this Congress, and every Senator will be faced with a
choice of whether or not to pass this legislation to protect our
democracy.
There has been a lot of gas-lighting here on the floor lately from
the other side about power grabs, about takeovers, but precious little
in terms of substance. I have not heard them mention what Republican
legislatures are
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doing. That is not the thrust of their speech. They say: Oh, it is a
power grab. Oh, it is a takeover.
Well, my friends, if there was ever a power grab, it is what is
happening in the State legislatures right now, where Republican
legislators are taking away people's sacred right to vote and aiming it
particularly at certain groups--people of color, young people, people
in urban areas, older people, disabled people.
So let me remind my colleagues what these bills actually do. The
Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act
are balanced, effective, and commonsense bills that build on the work
that this Chamber has done in the past to protect democracy, and it was
often done with bipartisan votes. The transformation of the Republican
Party in the era of Donald Trump is apparent and nasty, and, most
importantly, really dangerous to our democracy.
These laws set basic standards for all American citizens to vote
safely and vote securely, while protecting elections from attempts at
subversion. What is wrong with that? How is that a power grab, to
allow people to vote? It is the people who should have the power, not
politicians and State legislative bodies to take it away.
The bill also fights against the power of Big Money that has cascaded
into our system, and so much of it is now being used to try and
intimidate legislators, Senators, and Congressmen from preserving this
right to vote.
And the bill ends partisan gerrymandering. We have all seen
situations--the legislature of Wisconsin, the State Assembly, where 53
percent of the people voted for Democratic legislators in 2020, but
only about a third of the seats are Democratic due the severe nature of
this gerrymandering.
And, so importantly, these bills restore the critical preclearance
provisions that were once part of the Voting Rights Act that many of my
Republican colleagues supported in the past, which a conservative
majority on the Supreme Court shamefully gutted roughly a decade ago.
Democrats have tried for months--months--to convince our Republican
colleagues to join us on a bipartisan basis to begin debate on these
bills, to no avail. We presented these reasonable, commonsense
proposals, as I said, many of which had been voted on by Republicans in
the past. We presented them on the floor in June, August, October, and
November. Each time I promised my Republican colleagues they would have
the opportunity to voice their concerns and offer germane amendments. I
wouldn't limit the germane amendments that they wished to offer.
We have lobbied Republicans privately and tried to engage them in
both the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Every step of the way--every step of the way--we have been met with
near total resistance. To date, none of our efforts have produced any
meaningful engagement from the other side of the aisle.
But Members of this Chamber were elected to debate and to vote,
particularly on an issue as vital to the beating heart of our democracy
as this.
I have said for months that just because Republicans have refused to
work with us to protect voting rights does not mean Democrats would
stop working to move forward on our own. The matter is simply too
important. It is the wellspring of our democracy, the right by which
all other rights are secured--voting.
I am reading the biography of Grant, by Chernow. The No. 1 thing the
southern segregationists, who happened to be Democrats at the time,
wanted to take away from the newly freed slaves was the right to vote.
They knew that, if Black people didn't have the right to vote in the
South, they would have no power--no power over our laws, no power of
where resources go, no power to decide the directions of the country.
And that was the No. 1 thing they wanted to prevent.
So it is so vital to keep people's right to vote, particularly when
some of the laws--too many--are aimed at the people of color, reminding
us that racism is the poison of America still.
So we will move forward. The path I have laid out sets up a process
by which Senators can finally make clear to the American people where
they stand on protecting our democracy. Republicans will have a chance
to show where they stand on preserving the right of every eligible
citizen to cast a ballot.
Republicans will have a chance to make clear where they stand on
fighting efforts to empower partisan actors to subvert the election
process and create more Big Lies in the future. Republicans will have a
chance to make clear where they stand on fighting the power of dark
money, which so many Americans oppose--Democrats and Republicans. And
Republicans will have a chance to show where they stand on ending
partisan gerrymandering.
Of course, to ultimately end debate and pass anything, we will also
need 10 Republicans to join us, ultimately, on cloture. If they don't,
we will be left with no choice but to consider changes to Senate rules
so we can move forward. And changing Senate rules has been done many
times before in this Chamber. This is not the first, second, or third
time that this is happening.
All of us must make a choice about whether or not we will do our part
to preserve our democratic Republic this day and age. We cannot be
satisfied in thinking that democracy will win out in the end if we are
not willing to put in the work, strength, and courage to defend it.
Last night, I read the op-ed published by President Obama that
eloquently laid out what really is at stake here. I encourage my
colleagues to read it if they haven't already. He reminded us that
democracy is not a given. It is not self-executing. But it can indeed
survive and thrive if we are prepared to follow in the footsteps of the
great Americans who did their part to defend democracy before us, many
of them giving their lives. We are now being called upon to do our
part.
Madam President, I now ask unanimous consent to have printed in the
Record the Obama op-ed, which I will bring to the desk shortly.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[Jan. 12, 2022]
Former President Obama In USA Today: We Need To Follow John Lewis'
Example and Fight for Our Democracy
[By Former President Barack Obama]
``The world, and future generations, will be watching,''
Obama writes as he calls on Senate to ``do the right thing''
and pass legislation to protect voting rights.
When I spoke at John Lewis' memorial service two years ago,
I emphasized a truth John knew better than just about anyone.
Our democracy isn't a given. It isn't self-executing. We, as
citizens, have to nurture and tend it. We have to work at it.
And in that task, we have to vigilantly preserve and protect
our most basic tool of self-government, which is the right to
vote.
At the time, various state legislators across the country
had already passed a variety of laws designed to make voting
harder. It was an attack on everything John Lewis fought for,
and a challenge to our most fundamental democratic freedoms.
Since then, things have only gotten worse.
slow unraveling of basic democratic principles
While the American people turned out to vote at the highest
rate in a century in the last presidential election, members
of one of our two major political parties--spurred on by the
then-sitting president--denied the results of that election
and spun conspiracy theories that drove a violent mob to
attack our Capitol.
protesters attack the capitol on jan. 6
Although initially rejected by many Republicans, those
claims continued to be amplified by conservative media
outlets, and have since been embraced by a sizable portion of
Republican voters--not to mention GOP elected officials who
do, or at least should, know better. Those Republican
officials and conservative thought leaders who have
courageously stood their ground and rejected such anti-
democratic efforts have found themselves ostracized,
threatened and subjected to primary challenges.
Meanwhile, state legislators in 49 states have introduced
more than 400 bills designed to suppress votes. Some of these
bills we've seen before: legislation that would discourage
voters, including racial minorities, low-income voters and
young people from casting a ballot. Others aim to treat
certain polling locations differently, creating one set of
rules for voters living in cities and another set for people
living in more conservative, rural areas.
We're also seeing more aggressive attempts to gerrymander
congressional districts. Gerrymandering, which essentially
allows politicians to choose their voters instead of the
other way around, isn't new--and both parties have engaged in
it.
But what we're seeing now are far more aggressive and
precise efforts on the part of Republican state legislatures
to tilt the playing
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field in their favor. In states that have approved new
congressional maps, there are now 15 fewer competitive
districts than there were before. Fewer competitive districts
increases partisanship, since candidates who only have to
appeal to primary voters have no incentive to compromise or
move to the center.
Finally and perhaps most perniciously, we've seen state
legislatures try to assert power over core election processes
including the ability to certify election results. These
partisan attempts at voter nullification are unlike anything
we've seen in modern times, and they represent a profound
threat to the basic democratic principle that all votes
should be counted fairly and objectively.
The good news is that the majority of American voters are
resistant to this slow unraveling of basic democratic
institutions and electoral mechanisms. But their elected
representatives have a sacred obligation to push back as
well--and now is the time to do it.
Now, there are bills in front of the Senate that would
protect the right to vote, end partisan gerrymandering, and
restore crucial parts of the Voting Rights Act. Bill sponsors
have diligently reached out to their Republican colleagues to
obtain their support. Sadly, almost every Senate Republican
who expressed concern about threats to our democracy in the
immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 insurrection has since been
cowed into silence or reversed their positions. When one of
the bills in front of the Senate today was introduced in
November, every Democrat supported it. And every Republican
but one voted against moving it forward.
Protecting our democracy wasn't always a partisan issue.
The Voting Rights Act was the result of Democratic and
Republican efforts, and both President Reagan and President
George W. Bush signed its renewal when they were in office.
But even if Senate Republicans now refuse to stand up for our
democracy, Democrats should be able to get the job done with
a simple majority vote. There are already 50 Senators who
support bills to safeguard elections. The only thing standing
in the way is the filibuster--a Senate procedure that allows
a minority of just 41 Senators to prevent legislation from
being brought up for a vote.
The filibuster has no basis in the Constitution.
Historically, the parliamentary tactic was used sparingly--
most notably by Southern senators to block civil rights
legislation and prop up Jim Crow. In recent years, the
filibuster became a routine way for the Senate minority to
block important progress on issues supported by the majority
of voters. But we can't allow it to be used to block efforts
to protect our democracy. That's why I fully support
President Joe Biden's call to modify Senate rules as
necessary to make sure pending voting rights legislation gets
called for a vote. And every American who cares about the
survival of our most cherished institutions should support
the president's call as well.
protecting our democratic institutions
For generations, Americans of every political stripe have
taken pride in our status as the world's oldest continuous
democracy. We have spilled precious blood and spent countless
treasure in defense of democracy and freedom abroad. But as
we learned during the Jim Crow era, our role as democracy's
defender isn't credible when we violate the rights and
freedoms of our own citizens. And at a time when democracy is
under attack on every continent, we can't hope to set an
example for the world when one of our two major parties seems
intent on chipping away at the foundation of our own
democracy.
No single piece of legislation can guarantee that we'll
make progress on every challenge we face as a nation. But
legislation that ensures the right to vote and makes sure
every vote is properly counted will give us a better chance
of meeting those challenges. It's how we can overcome the
gridlock and cynicism that's so prevalent right now. It's how
we can stop climate change, and reform our broken immigration
system, and help ensure that our children enjoy an economy
that works for everyone and not just the few.
Now is the time for all of us to follow John Lewis'
example. Now is the time for the U.S. Senate to do the right
thing. America's long-standing grand experiment in democracy
is being sorely tested. Future generations are counting on us
to meet that test.
Mr. SCHUMER. Finally, as we continue this important conversation
about the future of our democracy, I ask my Democratic colleagues to
consider the following: If the right to vote is the cornerstone of our
democracy, then how can we in good conscience allow for a situation in
which the Republican Party can debate and pass voter suppression laws
at the State level with only a simple majority vote but not allow the
United States to do the same?
Let me repeat that.
If the right to vote is the cornerstone of our democracy, then how
can we in good conscience allow for a situation in which the Republican
Party can debate and pass voter suppression laws at the State level
with only a simple majority vote but not allow the U.S. Senate to do
the same?
In the coming days, we will confront this sobering question.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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