[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 90 (Tuesday, May 24, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2639-S2640]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                          The Republican Party

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, it has become clear over the last few 
months that too much of the Republican Party has been taken over by 
MAGA Republicans, who are now dominating the party and Republicans in 
the Senate, moving the party away from things it has often stood for in 
the pest.
  The contrast has become clear: Democrats, for instance, want to 
codify a woman's freedom to make decisions about her own body into 
Federal law, but MAGA Republicans want to take away women's rights by 
pushing national abortion bans, jailing women and doctors for carrying 
out abortions, and even pushing bans with no exception for rape or 
incest.
  In the wake of the Buffalo shooting, MAGA Republicans continue 
embracing unhinged conspiracy theories like the ``great replacement,'' 
which has been a rallying cry for ultranationalists and White 
supremacists in Europe for years.
  And all year long, while Democrats have been pushing solutions that 
will lower costs, MAGA Republicans and the chair of the Republican 
campaign arm openly support raising taxes on the poor and working 
families, while cheering on inflation as a ``gold mine.'' And those 
were Senator Scott's words, not mine. He called inflation a gold mine. 
Imagine.
  MAGA Republicans are showing Americans exactly who they are. In an 
amazing happening this weekend, the Conservative Political Action 
Conference, the largest conservative organization in America, held 
their conference in Hungary and welcomed one of Europe's most notorious 
proponents of ``replacement theory,'' Viktor Orban, as their keynote 
speaker.
  Again, the Conservative Political Action Conference, a very important 
organization in the new Republican MAGA party, had Viktor Orban as 
their keynote speaker, an autocrat, who has whittled away democracy in 
Hungary.
  It is sickening--sickening--to see that 2 weeks after the shooting in 
Buffalo, Republicans as prominent as Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson, 
spoke at the same event as one of Europe's most prominent White 
nationalists and authoritarians. It is a scary and otherworldly turn 
for one of America's two parties to take.
  I know not all Republicans embrace the views of MAGA Republicans. I 
know many of them support women's rights and embrace diversity and 
reject conspiracies like ``White replacement.''
  I urge these Republicans in the Senate and the country to repudiate 
the MAGA wing taking over the GOP. I invite the voters to support 
Democratic candidates as a protest against extremism so we as a nation 
can halt the dangerous rise of the hard right.
  This week, all of us in the Senate will have a chance to take a stand 
against extremism by voting to begin debate on the Domestic Terrorism 
Prevention Act.
  For the information of all, I will take the first procedural step on 
this legislation later today, and Members can expect to vote on 
Thursday on this bill that will crack down on domestic terrorism and 
extremism.
  As far as legislation goes, this bill is as much of a no-brainer as 
it comes. Two years ago, when Donald Trump was President, the House 
passed this bill unanimously. Every single Republican was for the bill. 
But in a sign of how radicalized the GOP has become, nearly every 
single House Republican opposed it last week, despite one Morning 
Consult poll that showed that a majority of Republicans and Republican 
voters support these commonsense measures.
  Let me say it again. According to one Morning Consult poll, a 
majority of Republican voters support cracking down on domestic 
terrorism. Yet, nevertheless, every single House Republican voted 
against this bill last week.
  If you wanted some proof that the MAGA wing of the Republican Party 
is taking over the whole party, there it is.
  I hope that, given everything happening across the country right now, 
Senate Republicans will act differently and support this bill.
  Let me be clear, Democrats' goal is to pass this bill, just as it is 
with all bills we bring to the Senate floor. But if Republicans keep 
going down their extremist, obstructionist path, then this vote will 
still allow the American people to hold their elected representatives 
accountable.
  Not long ago, views like ``replacement theory'' were relegated to the 
fringes of American society, shared primarily by twisted minds on 
online message boards. But today, White supremacy, which has been with 
us for decades

[[Page S2640]]

and centuries, is now out in the open, and proponents speak about it 
unabashedly and unashamedly.
  Many were shocked in 2017, when, out in the open, thousands of White 
supremacists marched at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville 
and chanted: ``You will not replace us.''
  It was out in the open on January 6, as insurrectionists waved 
Confederate flags through the hallways of this Capitol--the first time 
that ever occurred in American history.
  It is out in the open every time Donald Trump holds a MAGA rally and 
blames undocumented immigrants for stealing the 2020 election.
  And it is out in the open on cable news networks like FOX, where 
Tucker Carlson has spread ``replacement theory'' in over 400 episodes, 
and other commentators join in.
  To be sure, the extremism of MAGA Republicans is hardly limited to 
their embrace of ridiculous conspiracy theories. Across the country, 
the hard right is also hell-bent on turning back the clock on women's 
rights by 100 years, pushing restrictions on abortions that are wildly 
outside the mainstream.
  Whether it is a national ban on abortions, which Leader McConnell 
acknowledges is possible if Republicans win the Senate, or the 
prosecution of women who pursue abortions, or even banning businesses 
that help employees access abortions out of State, MAGA Republicans are 
openly championing restrictions that would have been career-enders just 
a few years ago but are now part of GOP canon. We cannot ignore who 
suffers most under these radical restrictions: women of color, low-
income families, families who live in deeply gerrymandered States, 
where their views have all been but silenced.

  This is what MAGA Republicans clamor for: a world ruled by conspiracy 
theories, national abortion bans, and the greatest curtailing of 
individual rights in 50 years; a world where immigrants and communities 
of color are considered ``replacers''; where women are considered 
second-class citizens and are told what to do with their bodies; where 
White supremacy is tolerated or even embraced; and where our democracy 
erodes in favor of autocracy.
  Imagine again Orban, the leading autocrat of Europe, being the lead 
speaker at CPAC, with President Trump and other major Republicans 
participating. Who would think we would see that day? Who would think?
  We cannot let these views become accepted or even become the norm in 
the United States. This week, we can take one step of many in helping 
silence the voices of White supremacy, the voices of domestic 
terrorism.
  So I implore my Republican colleagues: If you reject the dangers of 
White supremacy and views like ``White replacement,'' you should vote 
in favor of moving forward to begin debate on this domestic terrorism 
bill.
  This is a test. This is about accountability. Republican Senators, do 
you reject the views of MAGA Republicans? Do you reject White supremacy 
and ``replacement theory''?
  Taking a stand against domestic terrorism and White supremacy should 
be the easiest thing in the world. If Republicans can't join us on 
something as simple as that, Americans will see, with even greater 
clarity, how radical the GOP has become under Donald Trump and the MAGA 
Republicans.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Padilla). The Senator from Indiana.