[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 36 (Wednesday, February 28, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Page S1020]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Alabama IVF Court Decision

  Mr. President, on the Alabama IVF decision, after last week's 
stunningly radical decision by the Alabama Supreme Court jeopardizing 
IVF access, the United States has become an embarrassment to the world 
when it comes to reproductive freedom.
  Even sadder, this didn't happen in a vacuum. The hard-right MAGA 
Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade opened the floodgates 
for Republicans to force their anti-reproductive freedom--their anti-
women agenda--down the throats of all Americans.
  The decision by the Alabama Supreme Court is as cruel as it is 
enraging. There are countless people today who have the joy of children 
because of IVF. But now, families have to worry that this option could 
be taken away.
  Make no mistake, Republicans own the consequences of the Alabama 
Supreme Court's decision. Republicans know it. That is why Republicans 
are scrambling, desperate, to backpedal and try to sound reasonable and 
supportive of IVF all of a sudden, because they see what they have 
done.
  Republicans in Alabama--even a conservative State like Alabama--are 
now trying to save face by introducing legislation they claim will 
protect IVF providers. Even they know how the American people are 
reacting to this terrible decision--even in Alabama.
  Republicans in Florida are now trying to save face by postponing the 
consideration of anti-abortion legislation. This is the State that said 
no abortions after 6 weeks, when most women don't even know they are 
pregnant. And, by the way, the popularity of the Governor has 
dramatically dropped after he passed that legislation, because 
Floridians don't like it.
  Even Republicans here in Washington are trying to save face by 
putting off the introduction of national abortion bans because they 
recognize the mess they have gotten themselves into.
  And, of course, they are not fooling anyone. Republicans are like the 
arsonists who set the house on fire and then said: Why is it burning? 
Amazing, confounding, perturbing, and sad.
  Let me be clear: Republicans spent decades calling for a national 
abortion ban. Republicans spent decades packing our courts with hard-
right MAGA reactionary judges. So Republicans deserve zero benefit of 
the doubt now that the consequences of their agenda are sinking in and 
even spreading.
  Republicans can do and say all they want to try and run away from the 
truth, but the American people are not buying it. They are not buying 
it today. They won't buy it tomorrow. They won't buy it come November.
  Democrats remain absolutely committed to doing everything--
everything--we can to protect women, families, reproductive freedom.


                   30th anniversary of the brady bill

  Mr. President, back when I introduced the Brady bill, I was a House 
Member representing Brooklyn and Queens. I knew firsthand the terrible 
toll of gun violence because the streets of my district--and so many 
other districts--were witness to it. So I jumped at the opportunity to 
work alongside two brave and stalwart people, Jim and Sarah Brady--two 
American heroes whose lives, of course, were forever changed by gun 
violence--to help write and pass the Brady Law.
  Looking back at the legacy of the Brady bill after three decades, 
there is no doubt it has saved countless lives. There is no way to 
count because you don't know who didn't get the gun who would have, but 
it is going to be a number with many, many zeros. And it paved the way 
for future gun safety legislation, like the bipartisan bill we passed 2 
years ago.
  The bipartisan gun safety legislation we passed in 2022, in fact, was 
the most significant and comprehensive action on gun safety since the 
Brady bill. And just like its predecessors, it, too, is already saving 
lives.
  But it shouldn't take an assassination attempt against a President or 
a mass shooting among these innocent children in elementary school for 
elected leaders to make change happen. Gun violence is one of America's 
greatest ills. But it shouldn't have to be that way. And so our work, 
thinking of Jim and Sarah hovering over us, is far from over.
  Democrats remain committed to combating gun violence and making our 
communities safer. And we will keep pushing. We will keep fighting. We 
will never let the grief of parents and kids and neighbors and 
teachers--and all of those who have been scarred by gun violence--to 
recede to the back of our memories.
  Again, a salute to Jim and Sarah Brady and what they have done for 
America.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.