Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Senate U.S. Senate 20240713

Desk. Every single senator in the Democratic Congress and in our caucus here in the senate is cosponsoring the for the people act. Senator merkley, senator merkley and my companion bill the h. R. 1, for the people act, but it is very deep in the leaders legislative graveyard. Over the course of the last year, as the for the people act has languished, tens of millions of dollars were spent, much of it in secret, to influence the policymaking process. Almost half a dozen states passed new laws restricting voter rights. The u. S. Supreme court gave the green light to political gerrymandering, and President Trump has with his own properties dozens of times funneled millions of taxpayer dollars into his own pocket. Yet, the Republican Senate is silent, sigh length as silent as our democracy faces a crisis like none we have ever seen in our lifetimes. We can draw a Straight Line from the crisis in our democracy to more than 300 bipartisan bills buried in the majority leaders graveyard. The bills waiting for Senate Action are broadly supported by the American People, but they are opposed by the ultrawealthy, the special interests, the powerful corporations, and that they try to buy our elections. Like senator mcconnell, these bigmoney interests are proud of killing these bills. Here is what happened over the year that the for the people act has been in the majority leaders graveyard. The number of Americans Without Health Insurance increased by hundreds of thousands. California wildfires worsened by Climate Change cost 25 billion. Flooding in the midwest, also a casualty of Climate Change, cost 12. 5 billion. And 22 people were gunned down at an El Paso Walmart by a White Nationalist armed with an assault rifle. Sadly, that was just a fraction of the thousands of gunrelated deaths in our country last year. This is not the america that the American People want. The American People want us to act. The gap between what the American People are clamoring for and what the republican majority in the senate is giving them is as wide as the grand canyon and is growing by the day. Just look at the polls. Staggering numbers closing in on 90 of americans support universal Affordable Health care. With these numbers, you would think republicans would be making sure that every american has health care, but instead republicans have tried to dismantle the Affordable Care act every chance they get. As we speak, President Trump and 18 republican governors and attorneys general are urging the Supreme Court to strike down the Affordable Care act. The American People want the American People want exorbitant Prescription Drug prices reeled in. 80 of americans think the cost of Prescription Drugs are far too high, and we all know that big pharma is the reason why. Yet legislation to reduce drug costs is also is also stuck, stuck among the hundreds of other bills on the majority leaders desk. Over the last twoplus decades, big pharma has spent 3. 7 billion yes, thats billion on lobbying. And so today, the same vile of vial of insulin that cost cost 125 now costs over 1,000 today. As a result, some diabetics ration their insulin. Some as a result have died. Its not just our health care. The ability of our planet to support human life as we know it is at stake. Time and again polling tells us that the American People want us to tackle Climate Change. They understand the existential threat. Yet dozens of Climate Change bills lie ahead in the senate, including my renewable electricity standard bill to move us to 100 clean energy by midcentury. Nearly 70 of americans, including a majority of republicans, believe we need to take aggressive action to fight Climate Change. And almost 80 believe the government should invest more in Renewable Energy resources. With these kinds of numbers, youd think congress would be passing Climate Change legislation on a regular basis, except youd be wrong. Why . Well, an expert analysis found that from 2000 to 2016, 2 billion was spent on lobbying regarding climate policy, and the fossil fuel interests outspent environmental Public Interest groups bay factor of 10 to one. This is not democracy at work. That is complete perversion of our democratic ideals. But the good news is we can change all of this. We can reinvigorate our democracy, we can end the rein of big dorps, make it easier to vote, stop political gerrymandering and bring ethical conduct to washington. The majority leader just needs to stop doing the bidding of the wealthy special interests and bring the for the people act to the senate floor. And i know my colleague, senator merkley, is here, and senator bennet, and senator whitehouse, and senator cardin. And i yield to senator cardin. Thank you all for being here today. Mr. Cardin madam president . The presiding officer the senator from maryland. Mr. Cardin thank you, madam president. I want to thank senator udall for his leadership on the for the people act. I want to thank senator merkley for his leadership on this bill. This bill contains many provisions that deal with the fundamental values of this country. I also am proud of my colleague in the house of representatives, congressman sarbanes, who is the lead sponsor of h. R. 1, which is the we the people act, which passed the house of representatives a year ago and no action on the floor of the senate as a result of the majority leaders decision not to bring these bills to the floor. As i said, it includes a lot of different bills but all deal with americas values. These are the values that are the strength of this nation free and Fair Elections. Thats what we promote globally because we know that is key to a stable democratic society, and yet when you look at the way that we conduct elections in this country, were not setting a very high example. Look at how much money is involved in elections in this country, from the president to our local offices, too much money speaks to whos going to be able to get the attention of the voters. We need to change that. We know that suppression of voters has been institutionalized as a strategy to win office. That should have no place in america. We should want the maximum amount of voters to participate in our political process, not trying to prevent people from exercising their right to vote. For the people act brings about meaningful change so that america that is the shining example of democracy can lead the world by the way we conduct our over elections. Let me just mention two provisions that im particularly pleased that are included in for the people act. One is democracy restoration. That is, to allow those who have been convicted of crime after they have served their penalty to be able to participate in elections. Were one of only a few western democracies that permanently disenfranchise an individual whos been convicted of a felony. 6. 1 million adults currently are disenfranchised as a result of that provision, and yet only 22 of those individuals are incarcerated. The other 78 have paid their penalty, have done their time, and are now reintegrated in society. And its in our interest to have them participate in our democratic system. It reduces recidivism and quite frankly it is targeted at people of color. Theyre the most that have been disenfranchised as a result of this provision. 34 states still have restrictions. 12 have lifetime restrictions on those convicted of a felony. The democracy restoration act would remedy that situation. The second bill im going to refer to very briefly is deceptive practices and voter prevention act that target. It is the modern jimcrow laws in which were using modern technology. We have Campaign Strategies aimed at communities to give them disinformation about how they can vote or whether theyre eligible to vote or where they can vote. Thats being used today. Weve got to make sure that doesnt happen in the American Election system. For the people provides meaningful changes so that we dont allow suppression of vote to be an institutionalized strategy to try to win an election, so that we have the maximum participation of voters in our process and deals with the everflowing increased amount of dollars that are put in American Elections. The United States senate should not be a graveyard. The majority leader mcconnell has prevented hundreds of bills, bipartisan bills, from coming to the floor of the United States senate. Its been a year since weve had for the people act passed by the house of representatives. Its well past time for the senate to take up this legislation so that we can show the American People that we support the values that have made america the great democracy in our country. Thank you very much, madam president. I yield the floor. Mr. Whitehouse madam president . The presiding officer the senator from rhode island. Mr. Whitehouse madam president , shakespeares play hamlet began with something is rotten in denmark. Well, something rotten in congress. And what is is rotten in congress is dark money. Citizens united, perhaps one of the most foolish decisions ever rendered by the United States Supreme Court, opened unlimited spending into our politics, which benefits who . It benefits those who have Unlimited Money to spend and a motive to spend it in politics. Madam president , that is not a group of people whose voices were not being heard here already. That is the favorite group. But Citizens United opened the doors for them to spend Unlimited Money, and then the Supreme Court failed to police its own decision. Its own decision said that this up limited decision was going to be transparent to the public. We will, theyre 02. Its been a decade and theyve never even tried to enforce these basic predicates of their decision. It is a shameful, shameful effort by the court. And now, as a result, we have throughout our politics, this dark money tsunami of slime. How bad is it . These groups have spent 4. 5 billion since Citizens United 4. 5 billion trying to influence congress. You think they were doing that in the Public Interest . Of course not. You wonder why bills die here in the legislative graveyard of the senate in take a guess. Outside groups, these phony baloney front groups for these big special interests, are now outspending candidates in races. In fact, in the decade after Citizens United, outside groups outspent candidates in 126 dix congressional races 126 additional congress ago races. It is a very small group behind t the top ten donor households gave a combined 1. 1 billion to these front groups. You think they were looking out for the Public Interest . Dream on. Who were the big spenders . National rifle association, americans for prosperity thats the Koch Brothers front group, crossroads, calve roves front group, and the u. S. Chamber of commerce the champions of climate denial and obstruction. You want to know why were not getting things done around here . Its because billions of dollars are being spent secretly by special interests to shut things down. And its creeping now even into the courts. The federalist society, picking our judges, is at the center of a 250 million dark money network. A group that ran the campaigns against garland and for gorsuch and then afterwards for kavanaugh, got an individual 17 million donation for each of those two campaigns. Its actually probably the same donor, which means somebody out there anonymously gave 35 million to determine the makeup of the United States Supreme Court, and we dont know who that is . We dont know what business they have before the court . As i said, hamlet requests begins with something is rotten in denmark. The rot is creeping over to the Supreme Court and it is dark money and it is the patriotic and decent thing to do to exster pay the this menace. I yield the floor. Mr. Durbin madam president . The presiding officer the senator from illinois. Mr. Durbin madam president , last year i was proud to stand with my colleagues as we introduced the for the people act in the senate, just week after it passed the house of representatives. This measure has already passed the house of representatives. If you took civics 101, they explained that after the house took action on a measure, it came here. So the obvious question is, what happened to it . Its been a year. It must be in here somewhere. Well, we know exactly where it is. It is in senator mcconnells office. He is the republican leader of the United States senate, and hes made a conscious decision that hundreds of bills just like this one will not even be considered on the floor of the senate. It isnt that he doesnt have a majority. He does. But he doesnt want us to even debate or discuss these bills before the American People. This United States senate once enjoyed the reputation as the worlds most deliberative body, which meant we came here, debated, argued, and voted on things like amendments and bills like this one. Last year in the United States senate, the calendar year 2019, we considered exactly 22 amendments in the entire year. 22 amendments in one year in this senate. Six of them offered by senator paul with a gun to our heads, who said, if you dont give me a vote on my amendment, you cant go home. All six of his amendments were defeated. But that just gives you an example of why theres so little activity and why this floor is so empty so many times. In fact, this floor has become a museum piece, where bystanders and witnesses and spectators can come in, sit in the galleries and look down on the desks that used to be occupied by senators who voted and debate add. We dont do that anymore. Instead, we consider one after the other after the other of judicial nominations. I am a he not going to get into that issue, because its been touched on already. But my contribution to this for the people act goes to the heart of political campaigns. If you dont think american political campaigns are long enough, if youd like us to be on television a few more months each year, hang on tight. Its coming. If you dont think enough money is being spent on american political campaigns, hang on tight because more is coming. And if you want to reach the point where we have no idea where most of the money is coming from that funds these campaigns, hang on. Citizens uniteds decision by the Supreme Court across the street has set the stage for that and thats where were headed in america today. My proposal for Fair Elections now moves in exactly the opposite direction. Shorter campaigns, smaller contributions, more confrontation between candidates over issues than to in this battle of Television Ads that goes on now. My act would create a voluntary smalldonor Public Financing system for Senate Candidates who agree to raise only smalldollar contributions. I know its a dream, but think about what it would do to change american politics. Heres how it would work. Qualified Senate Candidates would receive grants based on their states population. 61 matching grants for contributions that they get of 200 or less. Smaller contributors. And vouchers for purchasing television advertisings and other social media. Once candidates reach the maximum amount of matching funds they receive, they continue to raise an unlimited amount of contributions of 200 or less. A 200 cap on contributions. They can also raise money from smalldonor Political Action committees known as people pacs which allow citizens to make their voices heard by aagree grating just small whys, no big hitters. The Fair Elections fub financing system would elevate the views and interests of a Diverse Group of americans rather than the traditional wealthy class and we would pay for it without spending a dime of taxpayers dollars. Our system would be financed by assessments on wealthy bad actors. The price of victory for a successful house congressional candidate in 2016 averaged by 2 million and 35 Senate Candidates who won in 2018 spent an average of 15. 7 million apiece.  if we dont rein in the cost and length ofs campaigns, shame on us. Weve got to reclaim the reputation of this Great Congress and United States senate and it starts with the way we finance our campaigns. In addition to the Fair Elections now act, this bill has measures to increase access to the ballot box, strengthen Election Security, improve oversight in our Campaign Finances, and remove corruption from office. I think it is outrageous that we live in america where people are dreaming up ways to restrict and restrain peoples right to vote. If there is anything fundamental to a democracy, it is the vote of those legally entitled in america. I have been in this business for a while. I started off by losing a few elections. I didnt enjoy a moment of that, but there was a notion that at least the American People had spoken in those elections, and i accepted the verdict of those people. They have come back and given me a few chances since to be in public service. Lets make sure the American People have the voice, the most important voice in this process through their right to vote. Keep foreigners out of the process, put americans into them, and dont make it hard to vote. Make it easy for those who are legally entitled to vote. Madam president , i yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from minnesota. Ms. Klobuchar madam president , i come to the floor to mark the oneyear anniversary of the house passage of h. R. 1, the for the people act. I am honored to be here with my colleagues, and i am here to urge the republicans to bring this legislation to the floor for a vote. This bill has been languishing in a legislative graveyard for a year. I know because i have 13 provisions in this bill, and this bill, which is the combined work of so many people in this chamber, including my friend, senator udall and more merkley and many others, it would fundamentally improve our democracy by protecting Voting Rights to curing our election systems and getting dark money out of our campaign system. So why is it so important for us to act on this bill . Well, because every one of the things that we need to get done, finally addressing the climate crisis, immigration reform, improving Peoples Health care, making health care more affordable, all depends on a democracy that works, so the people can make sure that their vote counts. At a time when the right to vote is under attack, when foreign adversaries are trying to exploit our divisions and interfere in our election something we are going to be briefed about this afternoon from intelligence agencies and when an unprecedented amount of money from special interests is drowning out the voices of the American People, we need to take bold action to restore americans confidence in our political system, and thats exactly what the for the people act does. As Ranking Member of the rules committee, this bill i know is important. I am frustrated that we have not had more rules Committee Hearings about things like oversight of the f. E. C. I am frustrated that just today a republican commissioner was put forth for a hearing recommended by the white house when there is a highly qualified democratic candidate for the f. E. C. Who would be the first person of color in the history of the federal Election Committee to serve on that committee who has been vetted and that has cleared the white house, but we only saw the republican candidate. This is why this bill is so important. This year, madam president , marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment which granted women the right to vote. As we celebrate, we are reminded that throughout our countrys history, the right to vote has been hard fought and hard won. Just two weeks ago, i had the honor of joining congressman john lewis, a true hero for Voting Rights, on the 55th annual selma bridge crossing to commemorate the sacrifices made on bloody sunday. When we reflect on the sacrifices that have been made for the right to vote, one thing is truly clear, and that is that the fight is not over. Today there are people working to take the right to vote away. That comes in many forms voting i. D. Lawz, gerrymandered districts, purging people from voting rolls, and one we just saw last week on super tuesday, polling place closures that result in voters having to wait hours in line just to cast a ballot. In the state of texas, just last week, some African American voters waited more than five hours in line. When a reporter asked one group of voters how they got through it, a man said we thought they were making us wait on purpose, so we motivated each other to stay. The policies that led to those long lines didnt happen by accident. Discrimination in voting is happening. As the Fourth Circuit noted in a North Carolina decision on gerrymandering and these are the words of judges with surgical precision, surgical precision, discrimination in voting against the African American community. Our democracy is stronger when more people participate. Our policies are better when more people participate, so we should be making it easier, not harder to vote. Every eligible american should be automatically registered to vote when they turn 18. Thats a bill that i lead. If target, my hometown company, can track a pair of shoes in hawaii with a s. K. U. Number, if everyone gets a Social Security number, we ought to make sure that everyone are automatically registered to vote when they turn 18. We also need to reform how we draw districts maps to end the practice of gerrymandering by having an independent commission in each state. And certainly, we need to ban purges of voting rolls. As my friend Stacey Abrams has said if you dont go to church or synagogue or mosque for a year or so, you dont lose your right to worship. If you dont go to a p. T. A. Meeting or any other kind of rotary club or anything for a few years, you do not lose your right to assemble under the United States constitution. And if you have not voted for a few elections and you show up when you have been registered but somehow they never got you the notice and then you find out because there is no sameday registration that you cannot vote, even though you have been duly registered to vote, you should not lose your right to vote under the United States constitution, and that is exactly what is going on right now with voting purges. Im proud to leave provisions in the important for the people act that would accomplish these goals to end these discriminatory practices. We also, of course, have to make voting more secure, which is my last topic. It has been 1,218 days since russia attacked us in 2016, and we have yet to pass comprehensive Election Security legislation. The next major elections are just 240 days away and primaries as we know are under way. We must take action now to secure our elections from foreign threat. Thats why i have championed legislation which was included in h. R. 1 to beef up our election system by providing states with resources to modernize our voting equipment, some of which we have passed here in this chamber, but also and this is the key parr federal elections. Requirements like paper ballots and postelection audits. We still have states, entire states that have no backup paper ballots. And im not going to spend time going through all those states, but let me tell you the russians know exactly what those states are. No backup paper ballots. We just had some caucuses in this country, and people resorted to looking at those paper ballots. Well, imagine if we are hacked in a certain county or in a certain state and there are no backup paper ballots, what will that do to a federal election . These are basics of a secure election system, but in 2020, as i noted, voters now in eight states will cast their ballot on machines that produce no paper trail. 16 states still have no statewide audit requirement to confirm the results of the election, and the majority of states rely on voting systems that are at least ten years old. Thats wrong, and thats why senator lankford and i, as well as many others, senator warner and others, and senator harris, senator burr, have been pushing the senate to act. But we were gut punched. We were gut punched because calls were made from the white house and calls were made from senator mcconnell to stop the votes to get that bill through the committee to the senate floor a year ago. Making voting easier and more secure is only part of the solution. We also have to get dark money out of our politics and increase transparency. Americans know this. They know there is way too much dark money in our politics. They overwhelmingly poll after poll after poll want to have more transparency. Campaign finance reform is a central part of h. R. 1 for a reason. If we dont put a check on the corrupting influence of money in politics, american voices will continue to be drowned out by special interests. Think about what i have just proposed, three things. Make voting easier, secure our election systems, and get big money out of our campaign. These are not radical proposals. These are proposals that nearly everyone in our country agrees on. Madam president , i would like to conclude by noting that in addition to marking the oneday anniversary of the house passing of h. R. 1, today is Harriet Tubman day. Most people remember Harriet Tubman for her incredible work on the underground railroad where she repeatedly risked her life for the freedom of others. I recently watched the movie harriet and highly recommend it to my colleagues, but Harriet Tubman didnt stop her fight for freedom and equality after the civil war ended. She took up the cause of womens suffrage and worked tirelessly until she was 90 years old to help women get the right to vote. We celebrate her life today because she spent a lifetime bending the arc of our moral universe toward justice. The best way we can honor her and the countless others who have risked their lives for our country and our democracy is to continue the work of improving our democracy so that it works better for the next generation. That is what the for the people act is all about. I urge my republican colleagues, i implore them, for a group of people that i know believe in freedom, that they allow us to have this bill come up for a vote, to ensure that people have the cherished freedom to vote. Thank you, madam president. I yield the floor. Mr. Bennet madam president. The presiding officer the senator from colorado. Mr. Bennet i appreciate the opportunity to talk about this bill. I want to thank my colleague, senator udall, from mexico for his extraordinary work, my colleague jeff merkley from oregon. I dont know if they have experienced it, i often have, or whether you have, madam president. There are times when i land in denver after spending a week here doing absolutely nothing where im walking through the Denver International airport and i want to put a paper bag over my head because im so embarrassed about the failure of this institution to live up to even its most the barest responsibilities that we have. I mean, we cant even pass a basic infrastructure bill around this place while china is building 3,500 miles of fiberoptic cable to connect latin america with africa back to china to export the surveillance state from china. Thats what theyre doing there while were doing nothing here. We have become the land where the standard of success is whether we kept the lights on for another two hours or another four hours. What the American People need to understand is this is the ideological end state of what the Freedom Caucus came here to washington to do. Its become the ideological end state of what Mitch Mcconnell can do, because in the rubble of our institutions, they can achieve the objectives they want to achieve. They can put rightwing judges on the Court Without our institutions working. They can come out and cut taxes for rich people claiming its a middleclass tax cut without our institutions working. What we are unable to do is invest in our infrastructure, make sure we have a system in this country that is actually liberating people from their economic circumstances instead of reinforcing their economic circumstances, to ensure that were doing something on climate, doing something on guns. Its been more than 20 years since columbine happened in colorado. My state, the western state, a Second Amendment state passed background checks after columbine. My three daughters grew up knowing they lived in a state that actually was trying to respond to what was going on in their schools. Not through the United States congress. And the reason for much of this inaction is the Supreme Courts decision in Citizens United. I wont belabor the point because i know my colleague from hawaii was kind enough to let me go ahead of her. Let me repeat this. Ten donors after Citizens United have contributed over the past decade 1. 2 billion to our policy. That has created a corruption of inaction in the United States senate. Its not corruption that you see because its a corruption of inaction. Its a bill thats not introduced. Its the Committee Hearing thats not held. Its the vote thats never taken for fear that if you do that, some billionaire is going to drop 30 million on your race and run a primary against you in your next election. Do you want to know why we could have a senate in the United States that votes on only 22 amendments in a year . Thats the reason. You want to know why we have a senate where 75 of the votes are personnel votes and 25 are actually on amendments . Thats the reason. And we have to overcome it not for democrats or republicans, but for the American People. Because this is their exercise in selfgovernment. This is the way they make decisions. And i know these reforms can work because they work in colorado. A Bipartisan Commission to end gerrymandering. Mailin voting. Automatic and sameday voting registration. The result . We have the secondhighest Voter Participation rate in america. How can that not be good for our democracy . My hope is that at some point when he hears the voices of the American People, Mitch Mcconnell will relent and allow these bills to come to the floor. He described this bill last year as a power grab. A power grab. And ill accept that if its understood as a power grab by the American People, which is what it is. An effort to get money out of our politics and put people back into our politics so we can start doing the work that the American People sent us here to do. And with that, madam president , i yield the floor. I thank my colleague from hawaii again for her indulgence. I yield the floor. Ms. Hirono madam president . The presiding officer the senator from hawaii. Ms. Hirono i also want to thank senators udall and merkley for their extraordinary work on for the people act. Madam president , we are con l fronting a crisis in our democracy. We have a president who repeatedly invites foreign intervention in our elections, engages in widespread corruption, attacks the news media as part of a broader assault on the truth, and uses false claims of voter fraud to legitimize Voter Suppression across the country. These challenges to our democracy are not limited to the trump administration, but this president has undoubtedly made things much, much worse. Its why i joined an overwhelming number of my democratic colleagues in both chambers of congress in cosponsoring h. R. 1, the for the people act. This crucial piece of legislation is the most expansive and serious attempt to strengthen american democracy in decades. Among its many provisions, this bill would root out corruption by attacking the dark money in our politics. The door was opened in these Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court. This bill would also secure our elections from foreign interference and restore voter protections that republicans have spent decades attacking for their own partisan political benefit. Like many of my colleagues, i am particularly focused on combatting the Republican Partys efforts to disenfranchise millions of minority voters. I could spend hours detailing the efforts throughout American History to make it as difficult as possible or even impossible for people of color to vote. But today i want to focus on the impact of the Supreme Courts 2013 decision in Shelby County. In this 54 decision, chief Justice Roberts and the courts conservative justices effectively gutted the core protections of the Voting Rights act. They decided that states with long histories of discrimination no longer had to obtain federal approval for voting changes under the Voting Rights act. As author Carrol Anderson explained, chief Justice Roberts has long been an opponent of the Voting Rights act and in Shelby County he used arguments that have been carefully crafted over several decades to eviscerate the Voting Rights act. Without the constraints of the Voting Rights act, states with long histories of discrimination ramped up Voter Suppression from racist voter i. D. Laws to eliminating early voting to purging voter rolls and closing voting places. In the six years following the Shelby County decision, for example, states previously subjected to preclearance under the Voting Rights act closed at least 1,688 polling sites. Texas alone closed 750 polling places. The clotured had closures had their intended effect. A study at Harvard University found minority voters are six times more likely than white voters to wait longer than an hour to vote. Longer waits impose greater costs for voting of minorities and deters them from voting in future elections. We saw the impact of these policies just last week on super tuesday. We saw inordinately long lines in minority precincts. In texas, mr. Herbert rogers waited more than six hours to vote. But he was determined to make his voice heard, so when he got to his polling place at texas university, an historically black college in houston, he patiently waited in line until he could cast his vote at 1 30 in the morning. Mr. Rogers experience last week speaks to one part of a broader problem. The Republican Party is so invested in Voter Suppression because they view it as an effective tool to win elections, and these efforts have devastating consequences for our country in the 2016 president ial election, the first president ial election held in 50 years that did not have the protections of the Voting Rights act. We saw plummeting minority turnout across the country, including in the key swing states of pennsylvania, michigan, and wisconsin. Carrol anderson afford that in observed that in 201650,000 fewer people voted in one, just one overwhelmingly African American county in wisconsin. Donald trump, by comparison, won wisconsin by only 27,000 votes. Efforts to further suppress the minority vote in swing states continue today. Last year, for example, a conservative Interest Group sued wisconsins state Elections Commission to force a purge of 209,000 infrequent voters from the voter rolls. Although a lower state Court Granted the conservative groups request, a Wisconsin Appeals Court put the voter purge on hold while the fight in the court continues. These ongoing Voter Suppression efforts serve as stark reminders of why we need to pass the for the people act. This bill not only blocks common strategies republicans have used to make it harder for minorities to vote, it also includes critical democracy reforms to make their votes count. This legislation will also set Strong National standards to protect voting access that reflect and improve upon steps that have already been taken by states like hawaii. Last year, for example, hawaii became the fourth state in the country to provide mailin ballots to all voters. Our state also has sameday voter registration, preregistration for residents under the age of 18 and a tenday early voting period. While some states are stepping up to protect Voting Rights, Congress Needs to take strong and Decisive Action to restore Voting Rights and end Voter Suppression across the country. We also need to take equally strong stand against Donald Trumps efforts to pack our federal courts with judges who have dedicated their careers to undermining the Voting Rights of minorities. At the Supreme Court where donald trump has appointed two justices, there have been a number of cases attacking the Voting Rights of minority communities, and there are real concerns that the Roberts Court will continue to uphold these Voter Suppression efforts. In the lower court, trump judges include andrew brasher, now an 11th circuit judge who argued in support of gutting the Voting Rights act in the Shelby County case. And carl duncan, now a fifth circuit judge who did did defended norths discriminate tear North Carolinas discriminatory voting law which found targeted African Americans with almost surgical precision. End quote. These are subverse acts to suppress voting. Donald trumps acts are so extreme he is appointing antiVoting Rights advocates even to courts that dont handle Voting Rights issues such as steven vaden for the court of international trade. He has no experience with theergs courts but defend these courts but defended North Carolinas discriminatory voting law. The right to vote is one of our most sacred rights and we must do all that we can to protect it for all americans. Its why i will continue to fight back against Donald Trumps Court Packing and fight for the passage of critical legislation like for the people act. Madam president , i yield the floor. The presiding officer the senator from oregon. Mr. Merkley thank you, madam president. Im pleased to be here with my colleagues to fight to restore the american constitution. Im glad to be here with senator tom udall, my colleagues macy hir row hirono, mike bennet all stepping up to say that we must defend the american constitution. And at the root of that is our system of electing those who represent us, and that election system of america is now deeply corrupted by gerrymandering, by extensive persistent Voter Suppression and by dark money. It affects everything that we should achieve for the people of the United States. If we believe we need to end the price gouging of americans on pharmaceutical drugs, we need to end this corruption and pass the for the people act. If we believe that every child deserves a quality k12 education and that our children should be able to go to College Without a mountain of debt, we need to end this corruption and pass the for the people act. If we believe that americans should be living in homes and apartments, not sleeping on the streets, we need to end this corruption and pass the for the people act. If we believe that we have a responsibility to pass on a habit lable and livable planet free of pollution to our children and p grandchildren, we need to end the corruption and pass the act. This is all about eviscerating the very soul of our constitution, the we the people vision of our constitution that we would not be like european nations that had government by and for the powerful, but here in america representatives of the people would be able to have government by and for the people. Its jefferson who said the real test of whether we succeed is whether the laws reflect the will of the people. But instead we see the laws in this chamber being constructed solely, uniquely and unfortunately for the most powerful and wealthy among us rather than the people. Gerrymandering, where voters choose their politicians, where voters should choose their politicians but instead politicians choose their voters. Thats a deep and powerful corruption that has extensive impact on the chamber thats just down this hall. We have seen what happened in North Carolina where 47 of the states popular vote in house races won 23 of the seats. Similarly, in pennsylvania the election before last. And the Supreme Court threw up its hands and said we cant do anything about this even though the pennsylvania Supreme Court understood its so important to fairness of equal representation, and took it on and solved it. This bill sets up independent commissions across the country so that the districts for representation are drawn fairly. And then theres Voter Suppression and intimidation. If you believe in our constitution, if you honor it, you believe in voter empowerment, not Voter Suppression. Weve seen a flood of suppression intimidation since the Supreme Court took a hatchet to the Voting Rights act in the Shelby County case. Voter i. D. Laws, purges of voter rolls, moving polling locations, cutting back on the hours, cutting back on the staffing. Weve seen it in noord. North dakota, georgia, ohio, and we saw it in texas last week. Strategies to keep the floor from voting. Strategies to keep minorities from voting. Strategies to keep american native indians from voting. Strategies to keep College Students from voting. Talk about the intense and deliberate construction of america, voter intimidation is it. This bill lays it out, National Vote by mail, prohibiting the purging of voting rolls, online registration, to enable people to have a smooth, solid road to be able to participate rather than roadblock and land mines to prevent them from participating. And then we have the dark money. This is the most powerful and richest americans trying to drown out the voice of millions of americans through unlimited dark and dirty money in our campaigns. Americans know the system is now rigged. They know it is now corrupted by this money. Weve weve seen an explosion of this money since 2010 when Citizens United came down from the Supreme Court. Its exploded to more than 4. 4 billion. But this bill takes it on. It shines a light on all of the money so we know where it is coming from and where it is going so it cant be hidden in a shell game from level to the next to the next. It requires honest ads. It allows small dollar donor matching grants. This bill for the people says no to corruption and yes to the we the people, the constitution of the United States of america. If we want to act on the fundamentals for families on health care and housing and wages and infrastructure and if we want to take on the equality act so doors are no longer slammed for the lgbtq. If were going to take on the Carbon Pollution that is destroying so much in american agriculture and our forests and our fishing doing so much damage with fiercer storms, if we take this on, we must pass for the people act. So this act has passed the house down the hall. Its come down here and it has been buried by the Republican Leadership of this chamber, and i must say one of the most deliberate acts, the sabotage of the constitution weve ever seen on the floor of this senate and that sabotage must end. Therefore, madam speaker or madam president , i ask unanimous consent the senate proceed to the immediate consideration of calendar number 39, h. R. 1, that the bill be considered and read a third time and passed and the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate. The presiding officer is there objection . Mr. Blunt madam president. The presiding officer the senator from missouri. Mr. Blunt madam president , reserving the right to object. I must admit i was sitting here and i thought i was coming over for h. R. 1 from the house to be attempted to put on the floor again, a bill that was supposedly designed to create ballot security and then i got here and i found out that this is the bill that will right all wrongs. I had no idea that in one piece of legislation so many things could happen. I understand also its a bill that stops the subversion of the constitution. I actually always thought a principal purpose of our constitution was to divide between the state and federal government. Those things that could be better done by local government and those things that could be better done by state government. Thats certainly not what i heard today. I also thought that the reason for this bill supposedly from the house was a bill that would create a level of Election Security that i never thought the bill would create, but i havent heard that. I almost went down to ask, as my friend was finishing up, am i really here for h. R. 1 or is this some other bill that does so much more than i would have ever image inned that imagined that h. R. 1 could do. In march of 2019, the house did pass this bill, gave unprecedented control to the federal government over the elections of the country. You take away you move as far as you possibly could with this bill the responsibility for running an election at a precinct in a jurisdiction. Now, at that time the senate requested that the bill be taken up and it was objected to me actually and in the intervening year the bill hasnt changed. It appears to have gotten better than what it was possibly designed to do, which it appears, madam president , everything that anybody would ever want to deal with. But what it really does is represents a one size fits all federal power grab to take election control from the states and in most cases away from the community and in many cases from a locally elected official whose very essence of the job theyve been elected to do is to be sure that not only can people vote but that people have confidence in what happens election day. That, in my view, would change dramatically if you move that responsibility from the people who have it now to some group here in washington, d. C. , that would try to administer elections nationally. I am confident that that wouldnt happen. In fact, the security of our election since the empettus of this impetus of this was supposed to be more secure elections when the house said were going to pass a big election bill that ensures that elections will be more secure, i think the thing that secures our elections the most is the diversity of the system. Now, this bill would undermine the decentralization of the system. It would undermine the ability of local officials to be responsible. I spent 20 years as either the election first lady in the biggest county election official as the biggest county where one person has had that responsibility. I have been worked with local Election Officials who have been incredibly motivated to ensure that what happens on election day is what does happen, the ability to cast their ballots with minimum obstacles and with maximum confidence that what happened on election day was what voters intended to do. I think i understand how hard those Election Officials work and everything they do to ensure that voters will be heard. Now, its not just my opinion. President obama in 2016 said this is this is a quote. Let me read the quote. Quote, there is no serious person out there who would suggest somehow that you could even rig americans elections in part because they are so decentralized and the number of votes involved, end quote. I actually agree with that. I think that was right then. I think thats right now. But this bill tells states how they could run every aspect of their election. It takes away the authority of states to determine their own process of voter registration. It requires states many states do this. If states do this and they think it works in their state, fine with me. But this would require online registration. It would require automatic voter registration. It would require sameday registration. If we were concerned about the access to the voter rolls, none of those things would be things that from washington, d. C. , we would believe we could require. It requires the criteria of how you process how a voter can be removed from the voter rolls. It tells states what kind of election equipment they must use. It tells states how their ballots have to be counted. It tells states how their ballots have to be audited. It even goes so far as to tell states what kind of paper their ballots have to be printed on. Thats what happens when you decide youre going to make Something Better by meacking one big one making one big one size fits all system. Nothing is too small for that system to decide they can do better than anybody locally could decide, even what paper the ballot is printed on. This doesnt stop at that though. It changes federal Campaign Finance law. It includes politicizing the federal Elections Commission by changing it from an evenly divided number to a partisan fivemember commission where three members would always be of the opposite party from the other two. It creates a program for Public Financing of federal elections. It was just described as grants to politicians. The most ingenious description ive heard of giving tax money to politicians to run elections. It would be a grant to politicians. Now, this bill hasnt changed since last march but a lot has changed since last march. The Intelligence Committee that im a member of has released 3 volumes of report of russian interference in the 2016 election. That includes to combat foreign interference in our election. The vast majority of those recommendations are not in this law. Many have been passed by this senate of those recommendations, not passed by the house. Im going were going to have a briefing in just about 50 minutes from the f. B. I. , the Homeland Security people, people who are actually working to security our elections so that every senator can hear whats happening there. None of that is in this bill. It state and local officials have moved dramatically since 2016 to upgrade their systems. All but two states, i believe now, have largely moved to where they have an auditable paper trail, which i was always insisting on as a state election official the states are moving in that direction. They are changing their own laws. Federal officials are giving them advice when they need them but not trying to take over. This bill not only doesnt acknowledge what state and local officials have been doing, it actually undermines what theyve been doing by setting standards that the brandnew equipment might not fit, equipment that has a paper trail, equipment that states have just bought, equipment that they bought that they thought would do a better job but might not be in full compliance with this new law. There are certainly things the federal government can do to assist, particularly in securing local elections and giving advice to local Election Officials. H. R. 1 does not do most of those things. It doesnt meet the standard that it sets for itself. It doesnt address the actual challenges in elections and so, madam president , i object. Mr. Merkley madam president. The presiding officer the objection is heard. Mr. Merkley madam president , my colleague has just demonstrated why this bill should be on the floor. Hes given extensive conversation to a series of points that should be deliberated. I say to my colleague from missouri, isnt this what we should be doing as a body, putting issues on the floor of the senate and debating them for the future of this country, so we can get, if you will, right to the facts rather than to have things obscured by the fact that the issue was not on the floor. So i would encourage you to go back to your caucus, addressing my colleague from missouri, and say i just gave a vigorous opposition to this bill but i believe in the roll of this senate to deliberate on issues so i think this bill should be put on the floor and be open to amendments. I heard what you said, you partly think it should be shrunk, it partly should be expanded. Well, good, thats part of having a debate on the floor of the senate. As part of your comments, you would stand up and debate this bill and advocate for your colleagues to debate this bill on the floor of the United States senate because once upon a time this floor would have been full of members arguing over key issues, enlightening each other, pointing out the flaws in their thinking. But now substantive policy bills dont arrive here on the floor because an unconstitutional position, that is one not delineated in the constitution, the majority leader has decided that nothing should be debated on this floor that he alone doesnt want considered. Now, lets think about some of the points that were just raised. It was the federal government should have no role in elections. It should all be left to local officials. But didnt we have that debate in 1965 in the the slowing rights act . In the Voting Rights act . And why did the federal government say that we should, in fact, have laws for the integrity of our elections . It was because there were all kinds of forms of voter intimidation and Voter Suppression keeping the people of the United States, the citizens of the United States from fully participating in their democratic republic. Its the constitution that laid out this role for the federal government saying congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations regarding elections. So its the constitution that envisioned that if states failed to protect the integrity of our elections, then we should act right here right now. My colleague said he didnt like the idea that the bill says what type of paper to use. Thats certainly something that could be worked out. But shouldnt we have paper ballots everywhere . My colleague said local officials are doing a right grab, then why were people in minority districts waiting seven hours to vote when people in many other districts, more affluent districts, were waiting seven minutes to vote . That is discrimination, straight and simple. And shouldnt we debate eliminating that discrimination here on the floor of the senate . This is about integrity of our elections. This is about the vision of our constitution. This is about not letting the wealthy and powerful control what happens in our United States of america. If we do not address this corruption of this senate and of the voting institutions, then we, in fact, will fail to fulfill our responsibility under the constitution of the people, by the people, and for the people. Thank you, madam president. A senator madam president . The presiding officer the senator from wyoming. Mr. Barrasso are we in a quorum call . The presiding officer we are not. Mr. Barrasso thank you, madam president. Madam president , i come to the floor today to honor the alliance we have between america and australia. Specifically, i want to pay tribute to the partnership that we have with regard to firefighting. Americas century old friendship with australia has safeguarded two great nations. In july of 2018, that marked the 100th anniversary of our historic victory in the pivotal battle of hammel during world war i. The australia, new zealand, United States security treaty came together to cement this military alliance. Since that treaty was signed and the treaty of 1951, we have always supported each other in times of crisis. It is this enduring spirit of mutual concern and cooperation and commitment that we celebrate today. Senator ben cardin of maryland and i have put together a bipartisan resolution paying tribute to our firefighting alliance. In recent years the United States and us a thrail ya australia have suffered some of the hottest, driest weather on record. As a result, weve seen longer, fiercer wildfire seasons. For over 15 years the two nations have come together to battle some of the most damaging and deadly fires. In 2018 more than 100 australians helped the United States combat wildfires ravaging the west coast. For our part, the United States agencies have been sending american firefighters to help the people of australia. These agencies include the bureau of land management, the forest service, the National Park service, the bureau of indian affairs, and the fish and wildlife service. Most recently, 362 american firefighters helped battle this seasons brutal australian brushfires. These brushfires burned over 30 million acres before itself last fires were the last fires were put out just this last month. Tragically three former American Service members died in a plane crash fighting the wildfires in australia. One of these heroes eeon mcbeth of montana was actually a member of the wyoming national guard. Also killed paul hudson of arizona and Rick Demorgan of florida. This resolution honors their ultimate sacrifice. Madam president , it also recognizes the sacrifices of all the courageous american and australian firefighters. I especially want to thank the 15 firefighters from my home state of wyoming who assisted australia. Travis brayton, anna cress letter, peter freer, kyle miller, chris rankin, eldridge sladowsky, tracy weaver, timothy haas, richard howe, robert mcconnie, shane mccormack, keith morgan, rance neighbors and jonathan zigler. I ask unanimous consent, madam president , that the complete list of all of the names of those u. S. Australian brushfire firefighters be included in the record. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Barrasso thank you, madam president. Madam president , the fact is americas firefighters put their lives on the line every day to keep people safe. They do it here at home and they do it when they go abroad. This resolution applauds the brave men and women who responded to the australian people in their hour of need. It also promotes the sharing of critical resources, of research and the best practices. This will help us prevent and suppress future fires. Madam president , be assured the americanus a thailian firefighting australian firefighting alliance will continue to protect us in the time of crisis. Our bipartisan resolution celebrates this enduring partnership. Thank you, madam president. And i yield the floor. A senator madam president . The presiding officer the senator from montana. Mr. Tester i want to thank the senator from wyoming for his comments. I come here today to express similar ones. Its a sad time for americans and especially sad time for montanans because you see, at the end of january, we lost three great americans who paid the ultimate price for risking their lives for our allies down under. Those three great americans are Flight Engineer Rick Demorgan, first officer Paul Clyde Hudson and captain eeon mcbeth who is a montanan. They all lost their lives when the plane went down fighting a devastating bush fire in australia. Captain mcbeth was a dedicated pilot, service member. He was a member of both the montana and the wyoming air National Guards and completed several combat deployments, including tours in iraq and afghanistan. Captain mcbeth was one of the best pilots mon had to offer. It was if he was born to fly c130s. But even more he was born to be a caring father and husband and brother and son to the incredible family that he has left behind. At 44 years of age, he was taken from them far too young. Captain mcbeth was devoted to his family leaving behind his wife, bodi, his kids abigail, calvin, ella, his parents and siblings whose hearts have to be aching right now. My wife charlotte and i are keeping them in our prayers and our hearts through this trying time. Captain mcbeth heard the call to serve this country and did so honorably. Taking that call to duty even further to help the folks in need on the other side of the world to fight wildfires. Now, montanans are no stranger to the risk that comes from fighting wildfire but that doesnt make it any easier when we lose one of our own. Captain mcbeth and so many other montanans who bravely run into dangers when others run out, these are our heroes plain and simple. We owe a debt of gratitude to captain mcbeth that can never be repaid. Montana has lost one of its finest and he will be missed. Madam president , i yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. Quorum call quorum call quorum call . A senator madam president. The presiding officer the senator from arizona. A senator i ask to vitiate the quorum call. The presiding officer without objection. Ms. Mcsally last week i cosponsored bipartisan resolution honoring the three american firefighters who lost their lives fighting australias bush fires this year. Including first officer paul hudson from buckeye, arizona. Each of these men gave the ultimate sacrifice in service to others. Paul dedicated his life to protecting others. First as a marine, and then as a firefighter. He served in the marine corps for 20 years, including as a sea130 pilot, before retiring as a lieutenant colonel. Paul graduated from the Naval Academy in 1999 and went on to earn a masters degree in Business Administration and Information Technology management from the graduate school. When aid was needed in australia to combat the devastating wildfires, paul jumped into action, put his life on the line to help others. He was only 42 years old when he was killed in a plane crash while fighting to extinguish these awful fires. My heart and my prayers and arizonas heart and arizonas prayers go out to his wife, noreen and their loss. Arizona will not forget pauls immense selflessness and his sacrifice. And i yield the floor, madam president. The presiding officer the clerk will call the roll. Quorum call mr. Mcconnell madam president. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to executive session to consider calendar 587. The presiding officer the question is on the motion to proceed. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed, nay. The ayes have it. The motion is agreed to. The clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, federal Energy Regulatory commission. James p. Danly of tennessee to be a member. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report the cloture motion. The clerk cloture motion we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of james p. Daily of tennessee to be a member of the federal Energy Regulatory commission, signed by 17 senators as follows mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the reading of the names be waved. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i ask the mandatory quorum call be waived. The presiding officer without objection. Mr. Mcconnell i move to proceed to legislative session. The presiding officer question is on the motion. All those in favor, say aye. The ayes have it. All of those opposed, say nay. The ayes do have it. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell i ask unanimous consent the senate stand in recess until 5 00 p. M. The presiding officer without objection