[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 21 (Wednesday, February 1, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S180]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               ELECTIONS

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, finally, on election undermining by the 
Republican National Committee, one of the biggest lessons of last 
November was that, for all of the attempts by MAGA Republicans to 
undermine our elections, the roots of our democracy remain strong and 
run deep.
  For 2 years, we heard the same thing over and over again from the 
MAGA brigade: that the 2020 elections were stolen, that President Biden 
was illegitimate, and that we couldn't trust that our votes were 
properly counted.
  Well, Americans simply didn't buy it. They saw that the elections 
were fair. Some have said these were the fairest elections we have ever 
had. Yet, in every virtual race last fall, MAGA candidates who 
campaigned explicitly on denying the results of the 2020 election and 
overturning it were rejected by the voters. It was a good result for 
the country, for our democracy. Frankly, it was a necessary wake-up 
call for the GOP, telling them: Get rid of the Big Lie once and for 
all. The American people aren't buying it. Maybe a small band of 
extreme rightwingers is--MAGA people--but not everybody else.
  It was so disturbing to read in the Washington Post that the RNC is 
not abandoning the conspiracy of the Big Lie so much as it is doubling 
down. According to reports, they are working on creating a ``permanent 
infrastructure in every state to ramp up `election integrity' 
activities'' as a way to cater to that portion of their base that still 
believes in wacky election fraud conspiracies.
  As a sign of how unserious this report is, the RNC also makes 
unfounded claims of a ``continuing onslaught of Democrat election 
manipulation.'' I would call it ridiculous--it is ridiculous--but it is 
a troubling attempt to undermine our democracy. When people don't 
believe the elections are on the level, that is the beginning of the 
end of this grand experiment in democracy that has lasted for 
centuries. Fortunately, the American people are rejecting it, but the 
Republicans that lead the MAGA wing are keeping at it.
  I will make this easy for the folks over at the RNC: Undermining our 
elections is a losing strategy. It is a loser politically. It didn't 
work last year, and it is not going to work next year. For the sake of 
our country and the sake of the GOP, the RNC and the MAGA wing of the 
Republican Party need to break the election fraud echo chamber that has 
paralyzed their party and has, frankly, caused them to lose election 
after election.

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