ere to go live to the u.s. senate. senate lawmakers today voting on whether to begin debate on voting rights legislation. live coverage of the u.s. senate is here on c-span2. the presiding officer: the senate will come to order. the chaplain, dr. barry black, will lead the senate in prayer. the chaplain, dr. barry black, the chaplain: let us pray. god of all nations lord of all people thank you for this land

that has received your blessings. lord throughout our nation's history, you have saved us from ourselves. from calamities. you have blessed us even when we have failed to live up to our great heritage of freedom. today, empower our senators to protect and guard the foundations of our liberty. remind them that eternal vigilance continues to be the price we must pay for freedom. when our lawmakers are weary replenish them with the inspiration of your presence as they remember your promise never

to forsake them. bellow the flickering embers of their hearts until their lives are aglow with the fires of patriotism, vision, and hope. we pray in your marvelous name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington, d.c. october 20, 2021.

to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable angus king a senator from the state of maine to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order the leadership time is reserved.

mr. schumer: mr. president. the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. schumer: i understand there are six bills at the desk due for a second reading en bloc. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the titles of the bill for the second time. the clerk: s. 3005 a bill establishing appropriate thresholds for budget in the senate and for other purposes, s. 3006, a bill to amend the

balanced budget and emergency deficit control act of 1985 and so forth s. 3007 a bill to amend the balanced budget and emergency deficit control act of 1985 to extend the discretionary spending limits. s. 3008, a bill to establish the federal rainy day fund to control emergency spending. s. 3009, a bill to amend title 6 of the social security act to remove the prohibition on states and territories. s. 3010, a bill to cap noninterest federal spending as a percentage potential g.d.p. to right size the government and so forth. mr. schumer: in order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule 14 i would object to further proceeding en bloc. the presiding officer: objection having been heard the bills will be placed on the calendar. mr. schumer: thank you mr. president. now, mr. president for over

240, the story of american democracy has been an inexorable march toward the realization of that sacred principle that all americans should have a voice in selecting their leaders. the grand ideal had humble beginnings at the time of the constitution's ratification, hardly one in ten americans would have been even eligible to vote. if you were not. a senator: white not a landowner, not -- if you were not white chances were the democracy did not apply to you. mr. schumer: it took over two centuries of americans marching, fighting, and dying for the promise of freedom to expand to our citizens regardless of race or gender or creed the right to vote. but for every two steps forward sometimes there are those who try to full us -- pull us one

step back. unfortunately we find ourselves today in the midst of such a struggle. across the country the big lie the big lie has spread like a cancer as many states across the nation have passed the most draconian restrictions against voting we have seen in decades. if nothing is done, these laws will make it harder for millions of americans to participate in their government. if there's anything worthy of the senate's attention if there's any issue that merits debate on this floor it's protecting our democracy from the forces that are trying to unravel it from the inside out. that's why this afternoon the united states senate will vote to begin debate on the freedom to vote act. the freedom to vote act is a balanced effective and commonsense proposal that will fortify our democracy and protect americans' right to vote. it sets basic standards for all americans to vote safely and securely no matter what zip code

they live in. it adopts proven reforms that will protect voters from both parties whether they live in red, purple or blue states. it fights back against the money of dac politics and ends partisan gerrymandering. all the while it respects the authority of states to carry out their elections. at its core, the freedom to vote actresses on a simple principle. americans must be able to freely choose their leaders and those leaders must be accountable to the people, not to well-heeled donors. these are policies all americans can get behind. when was the last time we heard americans cheer about dark money in our elections? or the pervasiveness of partisan gerrymandering? what sort of voter would willingly choose to make voting harder arbitrarily harder when it should be easy, safe, and secure?

the freedom to vote act would provide long overdue remedies for all these concerns. now, crafting this bill, as you know mr. president was no easy feat. it took months of hard work, compromise and gathering feedback from experts on sensible policies that have been proven to work. i want to thank all of my colleagues who dedicated their energies to making this moment possible, and i want to especially thank senator manchin for his hard work over the past few weeks. he's reached across the aisle to try and find a way for the senate to do its work in a bipartisan fashion. i thank him for his commitment to finding bipartisanship on a subject that by all accounts should be bipartisan to its core and has been for much of our history. now, today's vote is a cloture vote simply on a motion to proceed. it presents senators with a simple question -- should the senate even debate, debate voting rights. that's what this is about

simply a debate, and an important one, to be sure. no republican is being asked to sign their name to this or that policy today but they are being asked to come to the table and have a discussion and allow amendments. i want to be clear. if republicans join us in proceeding to this bill, i'm prepared to hold a full-fledged debate worthy of the u.s. senate. the minority will have the chance to have their voices heard. the senate has already voted on more amendments than in any year under former president trump and on this legislation again republican senators would be able to offer amendments. but for that to happen, we have to get on the bill today. what we can't accept is a situation where one side is calling for bipartisan debate and bipartisan cooperation while the other refuses to even engage in a dialogue. if our republican colleagues don't like our ideas, they have

a responsibility to present their own. it's ludicrous for any republican to assert that the federal government has no role to play in safeguarding elections when state laws disenfranchise american citizens. i invite them to read the constitution of the united states of america which precisely empowers congress to regulate quote, the times places, and manners of holding elections, unquote. i invite them to look at modern american history when the senate stepped into the breach numerous times when jim crow states sought to restrict the right to vote. there is a long and hallowed tradition of the senate, often in a bipartisan coalition working to protect access to the franchise, and today our colleagues should vote to begin debate for how we can answer that legacy. but what republicans should not do they must not do, is squelch

any chance, any chance for the senate to debate something as critical as sacrosanct, as american as the right to vote. the clock is ticking on our chance to take meaningful action. our experiment in democracy has been the greatest feat of self-rule in all of modern history. we cannot allow it to backslide here in the 21st century. today we have a chance to begin debate on how we can prevent that from happening but republicans must join us in the debate and vote to allow debate to proceed. i urge my colleagues to vote yes. now, on another matter, mr. president, b.b.b., build back better. even as we work to push legislation in defense of our democracy, senate democrats are also making good progress on reaching an agreement on president biden's build back better plan. yesterday, senate democrats had a very spirited and very

positive caucus launch to go over the latest outstanding items before we can all reach a deal. we walked out of that lunch united in our desire to reach an agreement this week. i believe we can get it done, and i want to thank all my colleagues for their leadership, diligence, and focus on reaching an end result. we're going to keep talking to each other all week long until we get the job done. later this morning, i will speak again with the speaker and with the white house to go over the latest details of the president's proposal. i have spoken to the president just about every day and speaker pelosi several times a day about these issues. i'll continue meeting with my caucus to try and keep us all on the same page, because be on the same page we must. everyone is going to have to compromise if we're going to find that legislative sweet spot we can all get behind. nobody will get everything they want no matter what, our final proposal will deliver the core

promise we made to the american people. we will take bold action against the climate crisis while creating millions of new good-paying jobs. we will expand economic opportunity and lower costs for working americans. and we will cut taxes for working and middle-class americans while asking the wealthy to pay their fair share. in short we will deliver on a bill that dramatically improves the lives of millions and millions and millions of american families. we're getting closer to an agreement. we want to finalize a deal by the end of this week, but we all must keep moving together. and finally on nominations mr. president, yesterday, i was proud to announce my recommendation of a great new yorker and a great friend to serve as the next u.s. ambassador to jamaica nick perry, of my hometown of brooklyn. i cannot think of a better person to present -- to represent our country in jamaica

than assemblyman perry. if confirmed, he would be the first-ever jamaican-born american to hold that post. i always ask folks when i'm in brooklyn what's the biggest island in the caribbean. i tell them it's a trick question. they guess. well maybe it's haiti maybe hits barbados, maybe it's cuba. i say no, it's brooklyn, which has more caribbean immigrants than anywhere else. so nick perry's nomination is great news for our community and our country. for decades assemblyman perry has served brooklyn by doing things the old-fashioned way working hard, never resting on his laurels, and earning the trust of the people he represents. he's a true american success story, an immigrant veteran of the army, a graduate of brooklyn college. i know he'll do excellent work as our next ambassador. from patrick ewing to k.r.s. 1 from vice president kamala harris to congresswoman yvette

clark, to the late general powell jamaican americans hold a key place in our nation's rich legacy. nick perry will continue adding to this legacy as he has for decades, and i'm proud to support him as nominee for ambassador. and finally today the senate will also move forward on catherine lhamon to be assistant secretary for civil rights at the department of education. all her career, ms. lhamon has been an unshakable champion for civil rights and for all students who want a fair shake in their education. this would be the second time she serves as assistant secretary. so she has the experience, the leadership and the dedication to stand up for students from all walks of life, something sorely lacking under the previous administration. i look forward to confirming her nomination. i yield the floor note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. mcconnell: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: i ask consent that further proceedings under the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. mcconnell: the federal government's own analysis of the energy sector are predicting that this winter, american families could face home heating bills that are 54% higher than last year. 54% higher than just last year. on average the price for households running on natural gas is expected to jump 30%. for homes that use propane a different assessment says the forecast looks like, quote

propane market armageddon. as the head of one aid organization put it, quote after the beating that people have taken in a pandemic, it's like what's next? what's next? well astonishingly what's next is yet another reckless taxing and spending spree from washington democrats including more inflationary spending to push costs even higher, and more antidomestic energy taxes and regulations that would only compound these problems. that includes new crushing taxes aimed at domestic natural gas production. they want to reprise the obama administration's war on coal, but this time the target is also -- in addition to coal, the target is also the natural gas that provides electricity for our communities and heats families' homes.

and then there are the new mandates and new penalties that are essentially designed to make 49 states' electrical grids move more in the direction of california's paying higher costs for less reliable power. now, unfortunately this has been the biden administration's playbook going back to the very beginning. remember killing the keystone x.l. pipeline and thousands of american jobs was a day-one a day-one priority. then it was the ban on new development of domestic energy reserves. and the hasty mission to rejoin the toothless paris climate accords where virtually nobody, nobody but america seems to be remotely interested in achieving their nonbinding, quote

commitments, end quote. so for all the left wing's apparent urgency to pass radical climate policy, they seem not to care much about tackling the biggest sources of the world's carbon emissions. the so-called international community that had scraped together the failed paris deal could only get the world's most prolific polluter -- that is china -- to agree -- now listen to this -- to agree to curb its increase in emissions nine years from now. that's all they got out of china, an agreement to curb their emissions nine years from now. that's what this administration calls a good deal? america signs up for self-inflicted pain today and china maybe maybe thinks about beginning to follow suit in another decade. so listen. china continues to produce more

than one fourth, one-fourth of the world's carbon output. roughly two and a half times as much as the united states. instead of fighting back against our adversaries democrats' reckless tax and spending spree would just hand deliver them one big gift right after another. like the big new tax hikes on american businesses that would leave our industries paying higher tax rates than businesses in communist china. like doubling down on the antienergy policies that already had the biden administration goes head in hand to russia and opec and begging them to up their own production for us. as our colleague senator barrasso pointed out yesterday before the biden administration took over, america was enjoying energy independence for the

first time in seven decades. before the biden administration took over, america was enjoying energy independence for the first time in seven decades. but now we're heading the other way. america has doubled our oil purchases from russia on president biden's watch. we're twice as depend end on russian oil today than we were before the administration took power. and president biden green-lighted putin's new gas pipeline that will give moscow even more leverage over the european continent. so democrats want our nation on a path toward less energy independence ens and higher costs for working families. their reckless taxing and spending spree would make it all dramatically worse. now on another matter, our

country would be much better off if our democratic colleagues shelled their radical wish list and focused on their fundamental responsibilities as a one-party government. but while they continue to spin their wheels negotiating this reckless taxing and spending spree, their most basic jobs are being neglected. this week already months behind the usual pace, the chairman of the appropriation committee released partisan drafts of spending bills that are dead on arrival. they spend too much. they cut our long-standing taxpayer protections like the hyde amendment and they shortchange our national defense, even as we face serious and growing threats from terrorism and from major competitors like china and russia. most of these bills can't earn 50 votes much less 60. when republicans ran the senate, by this time of year we had bipartisan frameworks in hand

for months. and we were hammering out the fine details across the aisle. our democratic colleagues are way, way behind schedule with no solution in sight. it's also looking increasingly likely that we'll reach veterans before the senate takes up the national defense throrrization act -- on authorization act. never mind that this year's bill earned overwhelming bipartisan support in committee. never mind that it represents this body's single most important opportunity to influence national security. our troops are being put in the back seat so the socialists can drive the car. and at the end of the month because house liberals still cannot get their act together and pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill which the senate passed months ago major highway projects and american workers are scheduled to be thrown into limbo. our democratic colleagues have

unified control of the government unified control of the government. the country needs them to stop arguing among themselves over how to waste trillions of dollars and get about executing their most basic jobs. now, one final matter. later today the democratic leader will have the senate vote on the latest iteration of his part's election takeover scheme. frankly, i've just about lost count of how many times our democratic colleagues have tried to truss up the same takeover with new trappings. for multiple years running washington democrats have offered a rotating merry go round of rationales to explain why they need to federalize voting laws and take over all of america -- all of american elections themselves. but every time they try the stick in the senate, it falls flat. today will be no exception.

the latest umpteenth iteration is only a compromise in the sense that the left and the far left argued among themselves about exactly how much power to grab and in which areas. this little latest bill still subjects popular commonsense election integrity protections like voter i.d. to the whims of federal bureaucrats. it still sends government money to political campaigns government money taxpayers' money to political campaigns. for goodness sake, it still puts washington in the mind of states' redistricting decisions and on and on. the same rotten core is all still there. the senate knows how to make a law in a productive, bipartisan way. we've done it this year on multiple subjects.

we've done it on election issues themselves in recent memory. the help america vote act 20 years ago that chris dodd and i put together. we did that when there was an actual problem that needed solving and an actual bipartisan process. but as long as senate democrats remain fixated on their radical agenda, this body will continue to do the job the framers assigned it and stop terrible ideas in their tracks. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session and resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of education catherine elizabeth lhamon of california to be assistant secretary for civil rights.

the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from vermont. mr. leahy: mr. president, i ask consent the call of the quorum be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: mr. president, i know we're going to be voting soon. i wanted to comment. i hope the democrats and republicans can rise above party and come together to protect our precious right to vote. i know in vermont we do that. we make it very clear that voting is a right. everybody can vote. and we try to make it as clear and open as possible. you could have -- people can be in jail for a crime they still have the right to vote.

we do not take it from anybody. and vote at the last minute. you can get absentee ballots. as a result we have an overwhelming vote in vermont one of the highest percentages in the country. and some suggest we do it to favor one party or the other. i just point to the last election. the governor and lieutenant governor elected separately in our state elected a republican as governor, a democrat as lieutenant governor. and went back and forth like that all the way across the ballot. it's just an example that we just want people to vote. and the timing right now couldn't be more urgent. in the wake of the supreme court's shelby and brnovich decision, dozens of states are trying to restrict access to the ballot for tens of thousands of americans, even millions of

americans, minority voters, the elderly, rural voters, student voters, the disabled, and others. these are the people we protect in my state. but the threats of the voting rights of any american are threats to all americans indeed they're threats to america itself. i'm glad the senate is taking much-needed action on the freedom to vote act. it establishes commonsense rules of the road for voting procedures ensures equal access to the ballot box for all americans. this bill is a compromised version of the original s. 1, and broadens support for the legislation here in the senate. i look forward to supporting this legislation on the floor. i can only hope that it doesn't fall prey to the knee-jerk

partisanship we've seen too often lately in the senate. and i'm also proud to recently introduce the john lewis voting rights advancement act. that's a bill i long championed and sponsored. this legislation would restore the core pillars of the 1965 voting rights act. they've been gutted by the supreme court's damaging and strange shelby and brnovich decisions, but it would also provide critical protection to native american communities across the country including alaska native american communities. this would restore the justice department's powers to oversee and prevent harmful discriminatory changes to voting laws and procedures. how can anybody stand up and say, i'm a proud american, but i'm going to let some of these

legislative bodies do things that will stop other americans from voting? if you're a proud american and really mean it, then you want every single american, i don't care what their political party is they should be able to vote. now, i'm working extremely hard to build bipartisan support for this bill, especially in the past few congresses it's been overwhelmingly bipartisan. i'm optimistic we can arrive at a good bipartisan compromise that can serve as a starting point for continued bipartisan discussions here in the senate. you wouldn't know it if you listened to the partisan sound bits and twitter wars of the modern media but this goal, protection of our right to vote was never a partisan issue. our hero, a man i -- i loved and

was proud to serve with was john lewis once said we all know it's not a democratic or republican issue, it's an american one. truer words haven't been spoken. john lewis was absolutely right. this is an american issue if you believe in democracy you believe in the right of everybody to vote. and for those of us who run for elective office, i always fought in vermont to make sure that everybody could vote knowing that there were some sections of the state where there may be a majority voting against me. i've always insisted everybody be able to vote. that's democracy. the core provisions of the voting rights act has been

revised five times -- five times. every single time there was overwhelming bipartisan support in congress, republicans and democrats alike voted for it. president nixon president reagan president george w. bush proudly signed voting rights authorization -- reauthorizations into law and those presidents, nixon reagan, and george w. bush spoke of the profound importance of the landmark law of our democracy. in fact, just to show how it goes the most recent voting rights act reauthorization in 2006 you know what the vote was in the united states senate? 98-0. some people feel we couldn't get a vote like that to say the sunrises in the east, but the

fact is every republican, every democrat said we need this to make sure americans vote. it's not a case of saying democrats vote or republicans vote or independents vote, it's americans vote, and we want all americans to. you know, the toxic partisanship of american politics today is sadly obscured in what has united us across party lines for so long, and that is the belief of the protection of the right to vote, the very right that gives democracy's name. that's bigger than party or politics. it is the belief that a system of self-government a government by of, and for the people is one that is worth preserving today but for generations to come. it's the belief the government exists to serve the will of the people not the other way

around. so i can just wear my hat as dean of the senate, one who's been privileged to serve here all these years. i ask senators, let's get back to doing things the way we've always done them, reaching across the aisle in good faith meeting each other in the middle legislating to protect the rights of the american people. even after all these years i still have faith the senate can serve as the conscience of the nation. i believe it can shine a light on the path forward even on the most difficult seemingly insurmountable issues. i believe we can do that again now in the fundamental issue of voting rights. so let's get to work. our democracy indeed our country as we know it may very

well depend upon it. mr. president, i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

mr. thune: mr. president. the presiding officer: the republican whip. the presiding officer: is the senate in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes. mr. thune: i would ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be lifted. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: and ask unanimous consent that i be able to complete my remarks prior to the vote. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. thune: mr. president last week president biden's chief of staff retweeted a tweet from harvard economist jason furman, describing our current economic challenges notably the growing supply chain issues as, quote high-class problems. high-class probl i guess working americans struggling to stretch their paychecks for everything from groceries to gas can quote it as high-class problems. the tone-deaf tweet is typical

of a white house that minimizes for most of the problems occurring on its watch whether it's the flood of illegal immigration across our southern border or the high prices americans are currently facing. but as the white house chief of staff and the president should know inflation has become a serious problem for working americans. inflation, of course, hits middle and low-income families hard. if you're wealthy price increases may be an annoyance but they are not likely to break your budget. if you're living paycheck to paycheck, on the other hand, price increases could be the difference of making -- paying for groceries and making it to the end of the month. it is up $125 a month. that may not sound much to a politician but to an ordinary

american family it is a lot of money. $175 a month can be the difference between a parent can get braces for a daughter, between visiting family for christmas and staying home and not seeing them, it can be the difference for extras like restaurants, little league fees, or ballet lessons or being able to cover the bayer necessities and -- bare necessities it can be the difference between making it to the next paycheck or running out of money. it can be the difference between paying the heating bill or going cold during the winter. mr. president, americans have seen increases in food prices and the price of bacon or beef or poultry pork, peanut butter, fruits and vegetables, eggs and the list goes on.

the price of children's shoes is up. so is the price of furniture and gas and electricity and rent. a recent a.p. article entitled winter heating bill set to jump as inflation hit home noted and i quote the u.s. government expects to see households' heating bills to jump as much as 54% compared to last winter, end quote. 54%, mr. president. show me the working family that can easily absorb that increase. mr. president, inflation happens when you have too much money too many dollars chasing too few goods and democrats helped trigger our inflation situation earlier this year when they decided to pour a lot of unnecessary government money into the economy despite being warned that their partisan $1.9 trillion could stoke inflation. now with inflation clearly becoming a long-it term problem

democrats are preparing to double down on the government spending with a massive $3.5 trillion tax-and-spending bill filled with priorities like $200 million for a park in speaker pelosi's district, a park that features luxury housing and a golf course and billions of dollars for a civilian climate corps to provide government jobs for climate activists. the massive government spending bill mr. president the biggest expansion of government for sure in decades maybe in history this bill would authorize pretty much -- or i should say this bill would awrdz pretty -- authorize pretty much guarantee that our country would be left with an even more persistent and widespread inflation problem. and flooding the economy with government dollars isn't even the only way that the bill will

contribute to inflation. the bill also contains big tax hikes on businesses, which are already raising prices thanks to the higher costs of shipping and materials and hiring inadequate workforce, raising taxes could result in higher consumer prices and or the services provided to consumers. government revenue for fiscal year 2021 saw a huge increase driven by corporations and well-off americans. those are the same companies and individuals that democrats like to accuse of not paying their fair share. but since democrats' appetite for government suspension is apparently insatiable, it doesn't look like this will stop them from passing the huge tax increases and driving up prices for consumers even further. mr. president, along with the flood of government spending democrats passed in the spring, another major contributor to our

inflation crisis has been supply chain bottle next and the white house has largely failed to do anything to address the problem. the president finally took one step forward when he announced the other day the port of los angeles will join the port of long beach in operating 24-7. it's about time. major ports around the globe already operate around the clock, but here in the united states unions have largely stood in the way of around the clock operations. and even now the port of los angeles long beach will not be fully 26/7 -- 24/7, only one terminal is open around the clock and then only for part of the week. the others are only slowly moving toward 24-hour operations with no deadline in sight. other than moving toward 24/7 operations in los angeles however, the president is doing almost nothing to address the

supply chain upgrade. ports are stuck in limbo while democrats debate the tax and spending spree. while the president's transportation secretary has talked about loosening trucking regulations, his department is actually pursuing an aggressive regulatory agenda that is likely to make transporting goods around the country more, not less difficult. i don't even want to think about the transportation challenges that will likely result from the government's mandates and regulations that will emerge from democrats' $3.5 trillion tax and spending spree. mr. president, it's unfortunate that democrat elites can't seem to grasp that inflation is a serious problem for working families and that the solution to our inflation problem is not flooding our economy with even more government money. if democrats succeed in passing their reckless tax and spending

spree, high inflation may be the order of the day for many, many days to come. let's hope that democrats think better of their spending plans before american families end up paying the price. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. 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 executive calendar number 414 catherine elizabeth lhamon of california to be assistant secretary for civil rights, department of education signed by 17 senators. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of catherine elizabeth lhamon of california to be assistant secretary for civil rights department of education shall be brought to a

close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote : vote:

vote:

vote:

s vote:

vote:

the presiding officer: the yeas are 50, the nays are 50. the senate being evenly divided the vice president votes in the affirmative.

the motion is agreed to. mrs. murray: madam president? the vice president: the senator from washington. mrs. murray: thank you, madam president. it is good to see you here today. the vice president: good to see you. mrs. murray: i come to the floor today to support prongly is the confirmation of katherine lhamon to serve as the assistant secretary for civil rights at the department of education. she was confirmed to the same role by voice vote in 2013. during her past tenure she demonstrated her commitment to students across the country as she worked to combat sexual assault on college campuses, protect transgender students, reduce disparities in school discipline based on a student's race or disability, and enforce civil rights laws to protect students. unfortunately, the previous administration took major steps

backwards when it came to supporting and protecting students. for example by significantly reducing efforts to enforce civil rights protections and rescinding important policies to address campus sexual assault. and now as we know, the pandemic has also done serious damage and worsened deep-seated inequities for students whose families earn low incomes students with disabilities. we have a lot of work ahead to fix this and help our schools rebuild stronger and fairer. which is why i am especially glad to see secretary cardona and president biden working so hard to right the wrongs of the last administration and support our schools through this pandemic. and i know ms. lhamon will be a critical, capable partner in those efforts because not only did she tackle many of these challenges in her past service as assistant secretary but even after her service in the obama administration ms. lhamon continued fighting for civil rights through her time as the chair of the u.s. commission on

civil rights. her work litigating civil rights cases with the national center for youth law and as legal affairs secretary to the governor of california. and she currently serves the biden administration as deputy assistant to the president appeared deputy director to the domestic policy council for racial justice and equity. she is a highly qualified nominee. she has a long track record that proves she is a champion for students through and through. i am thrilled to have her returning to the education department's office of civil rights. i urge all of our colleagues to join me in voting for her confirmation. thank you mr. president. i yield the floor.

mr. moran: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: i am joined on the floor by my colleague senator blunt, and we rise today to welcome fifa world cup collection city to kansas city and to express our strong support for kansas city's bid to serve as the 2026 world cup host city. i express my gratitude to the leadership of mayor quentin lucas and to the leadership of kathy nelson, kansas city sporting authority the president and c.e.o. our city is on two sides is of a state line, the missouri side of the state line and the kansas side of the state line. in many instances we're rivals and in many circumstances we're friends. kansas city boasts a rich

history of both professional and amateur sports. it is the home of the negro league baseball museum as well as the to 20 super bowl champions, the kansas city chiefs and the to the 15 world series champions shall the kansas city royals two,-time major league sporting champions sporting k.c. it is the hometown of our world renowned football cloture ted lasso. we have a fan base that i'm sure is ready to head to the stadium the loudest stadium to cheer on the united states men's national team and other nations who compete there. soccer has become an even larger part of the culture of kansas city after u.s. soccerrer's national development center officially opened in kansas city kansas, in may of 2018.

the n.d.c. is the perfect location any team to recover and prepare for their upcoming matches. this 81,000 square foot facility includes grass fields and artificial turf fields and houses the children's mercy health center. kansas city has been host to other major sporting events. the city regularly welcomes thousands and thousands of fans for events such as big 12 men's ncaa basketball champion and will be the location for the 2023 national football league, the nfl draft. due to major investment in kansas city's transportation and infrastructure, something that both senator blunt and i and our colleagues senator hawley and senator marshall, have worked on kansas city is well-equipped

to support soccer fans from around the globe. they will be welcomed a at brand-new kansas city airport which is undergoing a renovation restart for a state-of-the-art terminal scheduled to be completed in 2023. and in 2020, kansas city also became the first major metropolitan area to offer bus transportation free of charge. additionally, the kansas city street car offers free fares with stops just a short walk from dining and entertaining experiences in kansas city. early in my post college year career, i had an average in kansas city. the circumstances of kansas city and that long time ago in which i was a worker in downtown kansas city is significantly is different. it is the entertainment. opportunities are immense. the arrival of a major

magnificent sprint center, hotels new large, elegant -- all have arrived in kansas city in just the last few years. i'm confident the entire kansas city region is ready to make the 2026 fifa world cup a resounding success and is excited to add this prestigious tournament to its sporting history. again, we welcome the world cup selection committee to kansas city today and to the state of kansas and to the state of missouri. we welcome -- they're being welcomed to a world-class city known for its heartland hospitality. i yield to the senator from missouri. mr. blunt: i want to thank my good friend, senator moran for actually all he's done to try to make it possible to see the fifa world cup games come to kansas city. it is the biggest sporting event in the world. and, frankly, soccer has become a bigger part of the entire

american society. kids are playing soccer out there before they can really focus on which way the soccer ball is supposed to go. there is maybe nothing more fun than watching a 3- and 4-year-old soccerrer match. it is important where jerry and i live. giant banners with the phrase we want the cup are proudly displayed on buildings. they're on street car. they've everywhere you want to look. the kansas city chiefs quarterback patrick macombs is leading the charge to bring the world cup to kansas city. no question that sports are a major part of where we live, professional and nonprofessional. the women's world cup was in 2019, it was celebrated by fans watching games in the district.

they were broadcast on tv all over the world watching kansas city fans watch the world cup. we saw hundreds of thousands of fans flood the streets to join the kansas city royals in celebrating their world series title in 2015. we saw an incredible crowd when the kansas city chiefs brought home the lombardi trophy in 2019. in 2023 kansas city will host the nfl draft so if our friends from the world cup selection team are watching, the other things that have happened to give evidence to the great sports heartbeat of kansas stirks there's plenty to look at and plenty to see. we have the infrastructure we think we need to meet that world sporting event. arrowhead stadium, as senator moran mentioned is top-notch. it is a great place for fans. it is a great place to feel the

sense of the game and what can happen there. local leaders have done everything they could i think to secure the right thing of practice fields, the right kind of facilities. children's mercy park would be one of those and in 2021 is the concave cold cup was hosted there. mayor lucas is here today. he's here watching us today from the gallery. as he's here advocating for all things kansas city but is a particular advocate for seeing this world-class event come to kansas city. location is another advantage we have. we're right in the middle of the country. we're close to the host cities in canada and in mexico that will be part of this event. i think we're better positioned than the other 16 cities to really move forward on this bid. new airport as senator moran mentioned, will be welcoming whoever comes to this event if

they come to kansas city, and they're going to be pleased with that facility. lots of opportunities in kansas city to spend your free time and enjoy what we get to enjoy all the time. the famous barbecue, the world-class museums, the national negro league museum in kansas city, the nelson atkins art gallery. a vibrant night life and music scene in kansas city today. nearby states have agreed that kansas city is the right choice. it's become the midwest choice for this event. in may associations that represent 310,000 youth soccer players, and referees from the midwest came together to endorse the kansas city bid. financial benefits are obviously benefits that we'd be excited about if we get a chance to host this. according to the kansas city

sports commission c.e.o. and president cathy nelson, the economic impact on the region could be up to $1 billion. with a rich sports culture endless entertainment options strong infrastructure, and an easily accessible central location in our country, kansas city is the right choice for the 2026 fifa world cup host city, and senator moran and i and our colleagues from kansas and missouri endorse this effort and are glad that the selection team is looking today at what they're going to get if they decide to come to kansas city. and i yield the floor. the presiding officer: the senator from illinois. mr. durbin: i have 14 requests for committees to meet during today's session with the approval of the majority and minority leaders. the presiding officer: duly

noted. mr. durbin: mr. president, right now the end of the pandemic maybe -- i underline maybe -- within our reach. the delta surge is finally waning. over the past month coronavirus case numbers have fallen by more than 40% thank goodness. the average number of daily vaccinations has increased by more than 25% not an unrelated statistic. and covid death rates are finally starting to decline. these are all promising developments and they demonstrate that president biden's response to coronavirus is working. but as winter approaches, we need to ask ourselves a serious question -- will we continue to take the steps that are necessary to save lives and beat this virus once and for all or will we do nothing as some of our republican colleagues seem to urge, and allow the pandemic to come roaring back for another deadly wave? millions of american families have already suffered the consequences of denial, deception, and inaction.

a report released earlier this month found that since june, just since june nearly 100,000 american lives could have been saved if there were more vaccinations. but we can save the next 100,000 lives in america if we rally behind the president's call for the vaccination policy. the american people are already with it. the majority of people support mandating covid-19 vaccinations for students 12 and up. business owners across the country have followed president biden's lead by instituting their own vaccine mandates. they've helped increase vaccination rates by more than 20%. in texas, where the governor is seeking to outlaw vaccine mandates one hospital c.e.o. said that requiring his workers to be vaccinated is, quote unequivocally the best decision we ever made, and that 98% of his staff has now been

vaccinated. president biden's vaccine policy is supported by parents and business owners alike because they recognize a very simple truth. the only way to keep our kids in school keep our economy on the road to recovery and stopping the spread of this deadly virus is vaccination. a do-nothing strategy is deadly and disastrous for our economy. yet that is exactly what many of our republican colleagues continue to propose that we do -- nothing. it's the same response they had earlier this month when it came to raising the debt limit. let me reflect for a moment on the effort that is underway by state attorneys general. the republican attorneys general across the united states represent 24 different states. they have filed lawsuits to try to stop any vaccine mandate and mask requirement. i think it is fair to take a look at the period from june 15 2021 to september 15,

2021 and ask how the states are doing represented by these attorneys general who are fighting president biden's coronavirus policy. well we took a look at the average of the 24 states that are threatening these lawsuits. their infection rate is more than twice all the other states. so the people in their states, where they are supposedly fighting for their well-being, are losing when it comes to the infections of coronavirus. how about death rates? in the average of 24 states in this period of time threatening lawsuits, we have a death rate almost three times the death rate in the other 26 states. the vaccination rate lower in the 24 states represented by these republican attorneys general. so what are they winning? some political war? what the heck difference does it make who wins a political war when we're talking about a

life-and-death issue and that is what we're faced with. when it comes to the debt limit, we see the same negative default approach by the republicans. senate republicans were ready to let go of the steering wheel and swerve into on coming traffic with the debt limit right up until the 11th hour they wanted to use a filibuster to block democrats from addressing the debt, the limit of the debt. do you know when that debt was incurred? it was incurred during the trump administration with many of these same republicans voting for the spending that stands behind it. now the minority leader, senator mcconnell has once again pledged that republicans refuse to lift a finger to deal with the debt limit when it expires in the first week of december. think for a moment what defaulting on the debt would mean to american families. it is fodder for even more inflation. so don't come to the floor with your posing for holy pictures on

the issue of inflation and then turn around and say i don't care what happens to the debt limit. it will raise interest rates if we take that cavalier attitude that ultimately fuel inflation. americans will pay more each month because of that for their mortgages and credit, car bills and student and car loans. $15 trillion in household wealth and retirement savings would be wiped out if senator mcconnell and the republicans have their way in the first week in december. if our republican colleagues are truly concerned about the economic well-being of america work with us to put together a sensible response to the debt limit. senator schumer and the democrats have said to the republicans, if you won't lead, if you can't follow, then get the heck out of the way. democrats with a majority vote will enact a new debt limit. we understand our responsibility to this nation. denial incidentally seems to be the watch word on the republican side. certainly it is when it doms

climate change. some of our republican colleagues insist that despite all the evidence, climate change is a phony fake news, a hoax. others acknowledge it's real but say we just can't afford to do anything about it. in fact, what we can afford to do is nothing. climate change is here, and the cost of it is disastrous. one in three americans live in a county that's been hit by an extreme weather event this summer. one out of three. family homes consumed by wildfires, farms ravaged by unprecedented droughts, and lives lost and floods of biblical proportion. last year our nation was hit by 18 climate disasters costing at least $1 billion each. 18. the total tab for climate-related disasters that year was $95 billion. this year is worse. remember hurricane ida? it caused $100 billion in damages. think about that, one storm

$100 billion. and don't believe that that's just a matter of private citizens contacting their insurance companies. you can bet that the federal government and many state and local governments will be investing heavily to overcome the damage that's been done. climate change is the gravest threat to our economy bar none. not to mention our children and grandchildren's future. we've waited too long. climate change must be addressed today. tomorrow is too late. delay and denial will not make it disappear. only increase the damage and lessen the opportunities for solutions that we might consider. america is the world's can-do nation. we're the nation who looks at problems and says we can fix it. and there's something our republican colleagues either don't get or won't admit dealing with climate change has the potential to be the biggest job creator in generations. we have an opportunity to put millions of americans to work building sustainable resilient

future for our country. let me give you a recent example from last week. i had a chance to meet with the public transit officials in champagne urbana, illinois. the home to university of illinois. they were there to showcase a new zero emission bus and a charging infrastructure that is cutting edge. you see these buses run on hydrogen fuel cells powered by solar energy. they'll save tens of thousands of gallons of diesel fuel and prevent more than 130 tons of greenhouse gas emissions every single year. imagine if every city in america followed the lead of champaign urbana reconstructing their public transit system making it sustainable. think of all the americans we could put to work building charging stations, training workers to maintain and repair these fleets. that's what president biden's bipartisan infrastructure bill will help do.

it's the largest infrastructure proposal in decades and it will invest billions in green transit alone. and for the record, the previous president republican president donald trump had no transportation package. he talked about it in the campaign and for four straight years. he delivered nothing. president biden's build back better agenda is also an investment in our future. if you're worried about a worker shortage -- and we should be -- the build back better plan will enable parents especially mothers to return to work by making safe and affordable child care resources and senior care available for every family in this country. and it's a blueprint for america to win the 21st century and boost every family's economic security by investing in schools, education and first-class job training. continuing to do nothing while china and our other competitors pass us by is a strategy for finishing in second place which appears to be the

republican strategy. our republican colleagues say we just can't enforce can't afford to invest in america's workers, families, and economic potential. boy, are they wrong. what we can't afford is to do nothing. nothing, that's what they did when it came to the american rescue plan. not a single republican would support our efforts for an american rescue plan to address the covid-19 crisis. the vaccination program which is vaccinated most of americans and continues to do even more, was funded by that program. money was in that program to help businesses get back on their feet after the pandemic. it was a real investment in the future of america. unfortunately, it did not have the support from the other side of the aisle. finally, mr. president on another matter, this week the senate is going to vote to confirm tana lin to serve on the u.s. district court for the western district of the state of washington. ms. lin is an accomplishmented litigator. if confirmed she would be the

first iowa xi'an american to serve on a federal district court in the state of washington. she graduated from cornell university and new york university school of law began her career here in d.c. as a public defender. she then continued defending the rights of the most vulnerable as a trial attorney in the civil rights division of the justice department. following her time there she moved to my home state of illinois to work in the chicago district office of the u.s. equal employment opportunity commission. she litigated cases under title 7 of the civil rights act age discrimination cases and the americans with disabilities act. today ms. lin works as an attorney in private practice where she primarily litigates cases involving antitrust consumer protection, and employment issues and as a pro bono civil rights attorney she combated racial discrimination, advocated for religious accommodations in the workplace and helped protect elections from political interference. her nomination is another

example of the biden administration and senate democrats working together to advance highly-qualified judicial nominees. ms. lin received a unanimous unanimous rating of well-qualified from the american bar association and she has the strong support of her home-state senators murray and cantwell. i urge my colleagues when her name comes before us to support ms. lin's historic nomination. and i yield the floor. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alaska. ms. murkowski: thank you mr. president. mr. president, this afternoon i come to the floor to recognize the life and the contributions of a friend, an alaskan a gentleman -- chuck bundrin

founder and majority owner of trident seafoods fisherman who really forever changed the seafood industry in alaska. employing thousands of people across alaska and the country the processing and and processing hundreds of millions of pounds of finished seafood products each year, trident is the largest vertically integrated seafood harvesting and processing company in north america today. the -- the company has been critical in giving the rest of the united states and the world a taste of alaska's delicious and of course sustainably managed wild seafood. chuck has a pretty interesting story. he didn't grow up in alaska. he didn't even grow up near the ocean. he was born in tennessee and raised in indiana. he initially hoped to purr sue d

pursue veterinary program but by the winter of 1961, he and a few friends drove from tennessee to seattle with the thought that they would make it up to alaska. at at that point in time he didn't have any experience, any exposure to the state. apparently he watched the john wayne movie called north to alaska that kind of spurred him, but he heard there were lucrative opportunities in the fishing opportunity but he also knew that finding a job wasn't going to be an easy task. he and his bodies considered the merits of the trip but chuck doubled down and continued his dream of working in the last frontier. he spent the first summer in the state working where he could in the brissal bay area. he got a job busting freezers,

which for colleagues means banging metal pans to knock loose the box of shelled crabs and he was out in the aleutian islands. like so many who have a chance to visit alaska, chuck wasn't satisfied with one quick stint in the state he turned it into a 12-year learning experience and lifelong experience. he worked his way up from the freezer hold to buying his first crab fishing boat. as chuck gained more experience in and understanding of the crabbing industry, he noticed that there was an inefficiency in the way that they operated. after bringing in the harvest most fishermen would head back to shore hand it over to processing outfits and there the crabmeat would be removed from

shells and sent to market. just a lot of back and forth here means the fishermen lose time at sea and this is where his ingenuity struck. in the 1960's he and two friends used whatever collective earnings they had at that point in time. they built the bilican which was a 135-foot boat with crab cookers and freezing equipment that allowed for immediate on-board meat processing. he kept fishing and processing on the bilican. there were protests from other sea-bearing crab fisherman. around this same time he and carry and mike partnered with ed perry and his billingham based

company and this was really the beginning of trident seafood. their early years coincided with a phaseout of the foreign fleets of the pacific harvest due to the enactment of the fishery conservation act and a burgeoning japanese market for alaska frozen fish and herring. so chuck and his colleagues took advantage of this opening and built a fleet of mobile operating vessels that quickly made their mark on alaska fisheries. chuck's competitive resourceful mentality, again proved useful as king crab numbers and harvest started to decline in the early 1980's. in the 1970's, he had watched giant japanese, korean and norwegian trolling vessels bring

in fish from the baring sea and this gave american fishermen to stocks of abundant fish like pollack that inhabited alaska's coastal waters. there was an opportunity for pollack in japan but in america at the time, pollack was considered a junk fish, a trash fish and american processors did not have the equipment to harvest pollack and to transform its flesh into paste and fillets. but chuck saw things with a vision. he -- he saw -- he saw this as an opportunity and not pollack

as a trash or poor investment. he studied the japanese methods for catching and processing pollack. he strategized about how trident could enter this market and then in 1981 he took a pretty bold move and took a plant for onshore processing of crab, salmon and of course pollock. so he took a risk there. after years of trying to convince food wholesalers and restaurant owners to take a chance on pollock he secured a deal between trident and long john silvers this was the first contract to bring the u.s. fish to market. and this deal didn't take place in some fancy restaurant in some major city. this deal took place out in

acutan processing facility that he had taken his chance on back in 1981. so companies like mcdonald's burger king followed long john silvers by replacing cod with pollock. odds are if you tried their fish and chips or fish sandwiches, you probably tried a trident product. they have a fleet of 40 processors, 11 processing plants in alaska, five processing plants in washington state georgia, and minnesota. it offers a host of frozen and canned products. it means they know exactly where its products come from. that's important to us. but as trident has grown and propelled the industry forward

chuck remained steadfast in his commitment that trident remain a family business that supports its employees and the independent fishermen that it partners with. chuck's son joe now serves as the company's c.e.o. he's continued his dad's effort to seek out new value-added products that can be created from alaska fish. it's always a good story, i think, to know of these very successful businesses that keep grounded with the base from which they began and with chuck it was really important that his family continue to be part of -- of this success story. told that chuck had some pretty strict rules that if any of his grandkids and i think he's got about 13 of them, if any of them decide they want to work for the family business, you first have to earn a college degree, which

chuck did not have, but they will has -- also had to spend four years working someplace else other than trident and they had to cut their teeth and fish two summers in alaska. he wanted to make sure you weren't just going to get the job because you were a member of the family. you worked for it, you knew what this was all about. it is difficult to overstate the impact that chuck has had with his fellow fishermen. he always sought to pay it forward, to offer younger fishermen the same mentorship and support that allowed him to get his start in the 1960's and 1970's and make trident the company that it is today. and this dovetail's with chuck's commitment to charitable giving. he was generous in so many, many different ways.

raised and donated money for victims of the earthquake, the tsunami in japan contributed to multiple cancer research foundations. i have certainly seen his -- his generosity as he has -- has shared -- as he has shared in ways that demonstrate his compassion his caring. his influence on the fishing community is really clear from the outpouring of love and support that he has received since he was diagnosed with an atypical form of park inn -- parkinson's, from the tv show the deadliest catch many who considered him an inspiration they cohosted captains for a cure fundraiser, it was an auction for the northwest

chapter of the american parkinson's disease association. they raised nearly $800,000, and it goes to a research grant in chuck's honor. again, trying to shine a light on the specific form of disease that -- that chuck lived with. i received a note from joe bundrant on sunday when chuck passed from this earth and i want to share a couple of sentences from a personal e-mail. he says, dying is not easy but chuck was up to the task and face death on this earth as he faced rogue waves in alaska, head on with dignity determination and with the faith that he would be safe in god's hands. he goes on to further say that he lived each day fully driven

by the values of integrity loyalty, hard work, and most importantly, faith. and so as i have reflected on the life of really an extraordinary man it strikes me that at the end of the day this individual chuck bundrant, was -- was a family man cared for his family deeply. but he, at the base of it, was a fisherman and he lived -- he lived his life in -- in a way that really speaks to the values of integrity loyalty hard work and most importantly faith. so to his family, to his wife diane, know that our hearts are with you. we thank you for sharing a truly honorable man with so many of us. with that, mr. president i yield the floor.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from north carolina. mr. tillis: thank you mr. president. mr. president, this weekend thousands of law enforcement officers and their families came to our nation's capital to celebrate police weekend. while americans were paying tribute to our men and women in blue here in d.c., north carolina once again received the tragic news of a brave officer lost in the line of duty. officer ryan hayworth was only 23 years old. he tragically lost his life on sunday night just three months after joining the police department. he and his training officer investigated a single vehicle incident on interstate 540 when a drunk driver -- parked s.u.v.

taking officer hayward's wife. cody haggler who was a training officer remains injured and hospitalized but thankfully he's expected to recover. this senseless tragedy is another reminder of the constant dangers our brave men and women in law enforcement face every single day. a routine call to respond to an accident resulted in a young officer losing his life in the line of duty. although he was only 23 years old, officer hayworth had a distinguished record of service. he served in the u.s. army and national guard and answered the call once again by becoming a police officer. it's not surprising to anyone who knows the hayworth's family. his father was a member of the police department and his brother is a firefighter.

a member of his family church told a local news outlet he wanted to be a police officer like his dad. they are good, god-fearing people. they care about the community, and it's tragic something like this happened the way it did. knightdale's police chief noted the highest standards officer hayworth met and exceeded as a new member of the force. police chief capp said when we hire police officers, we're looking for individuals that embody the best of this profession. all that is good, all that is wholesome, all that is pure, all that is righteous. ryan embodied those things. it's no surprise to see the outpouring of support to honor officer hayworth. people from across the state have stopped by the knightdale police department to place flowers at a memorial created by his colleagues.

other local police departments are now assisting knightdale police department in their patrols during this difficult time. i'm grateful that the vast majority of north carolinians truly appreciate the service and the sacrifice of law enforcement. they recognize the men and women serving are good people who put their uniforms every day and take extraordinary risk to protect others. officer hayworth is an officer who took those risks to protect others and he made the ultimate sacrifice in doing so. i know the community of knightdale will never forget his service and sacrifice and i know that all north carolinians join me in keeping officer hayworth's loving family and his many friends and colleagues in our prayers. may god bless officer ryan hayworth and all of our nation's brave law enforcement officers. thank you mr. president.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: mr. president i ask unanimous consent that dr. dr. casper quinn an american institute of congressional sciences fellow for the american association of advancement of science who is serving in my office be granted the privileges of the floor for the remainder of the congress. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reed: thank you mr. president. mr. president, i rise today to join my colleagues in supporting s. to vote act, and s. 4 the john lewis voting rights advancement act and s. 2615, the right to vote act. as some states and political operatives around the country seek to roll back voter protection laws and gerrymander voting districts congress must act to strengthen the freedom to vote and ensure elections are safe and accessible. since its original passage in 1965 the voting rights act safeguards the rights of

historically marginalized voters at the polls. sadly, the u.s. supreme court's 2013 ruling in shelby county versus holder gutted key voting rights act protections. earlier this year, in july of 2021 the supreme court issued another split decision ruling further that law in its decision in vrn very much versus the -- in brnovich versus the d.o.c. over the years this democracy has seen a crisis in access to the polls and it's been worsened recently as republican-led state legislatures have implemented policies that disproportionately suppress the voting rights of people of color the elderly college students, and those

living in rural areas among others. those same political operatives have repeatedly weaponized false claims of election fraud like those perpetuated by former president trump to try and overturn the will of the people. the right to vote is a fundamental right guaranteed by our constitution, and it is our responsibility to protect it. in the united states of america a beacon of democracy our elections must be open and transparent and follow a process and procedures that all americans can trus more important than ever that congress affirm that voters have a right to free and fair elections. the freedom to vote act fulfills this constitutional responsibility by improving access to the ballot, advancing commonsense election integr protecting our democracy from emerging threats from cyberattacks all the way to misinformations. it is not the job of government to make it hard to vote.

rather, it is our responsibility to balance the convenience of voters with the security of their ballots. this legislation does just that. i also support the john lewis voting rights advancement act which were repair the damage done by the supreme court's decisions by restoring the department of civil rights division oversight over historically discriminatory states when they change voting laws and leglative districts. the john lewis voting rights advancement act would provide needed federal oversight and serve as a check on communities that are in a pattern of restricting voting rights and making it harder for minority voters to be counted. finally, i support the r to vote act which would establish the first-ever statutory right to vote in federal elections. therefore allowing americans to enforce that right by challenging in court any policy

that restricts ballot access. this legislation takest and empowers the tools to defend it. this way states attempting to restrict voting access will have to meet hh bar tofy der for u.s. citizens to participate in federal elections. restricting the ability of americans to freely and fairly cast their ballots threatens the very core of our nation's founding democratic republicans. as americans deal with the ongoing effects of covid-19 and prepare for elections in the coming months and years we should be removing, not adding, unnecessary barriers to voting. while efforts to pass voting rights legislation have been stymied by senate republicans you can be assured that i will continue to stand ready and willing to work with my colleagues in congress to defend americans' right to vote, end partisan gerrymandering, and prevent voter suppression. the vote today will allow us to be in a m topic of voting rights.

i ask my republican colleagues to come to the table and join us in this conversation about how we can protect our elections and safeguard american democracy. i urge all my colleagues to support these important bills that would protect and advance voting rights in our country. and with that, mr. president i would yield the floor. and i would note the absence o the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from utah. mr. lee: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to suspend the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. lee: mr. president our armed forces have been asked to work miracles over the last 18 months and -- and they have performed. during a global pandemic in the face of natural disasters in facing dangerous missions, our men and women in uniform have risen dutifully and faithfully to the challenge. many of our service members have

contracted and been recovered -- and then recovered from covid-19 over the last 18 months. now these same heroes are being placed in a corner by this administration. president biden's covid-19 vaccine requirement for the armed forces does not grant our soldiers sailors airmen, and marines the respect they deserve, and it could pose a challenge to recruitment and even to military readiness. this mandate tied with president biden's more sweeping general vaccine mandate have put millions of americans in difficult positions. in most cases these are just everyday americans. they are mothers and fathers husbands and wives, just trying to put food on the table during what has for many been a difficult time. these still unwritten but very much efficacious mandates are

forcing millions of our fellow citizens to -- into a sort of second-class unemployable status placing countless of our neighbors on the economic and social fringes of our society. i've heard from almost 300 utahans in recent days who are worried about losing their jobs due to the mandates. some of these individuals are heroic members of our military. these service members were rightly praised for surveying during -- serving during a pandemic and through dangerous missions but now are being forced out possibly with limited or no retirement benefits because of the president's mandate. let me just share with you a few of their stories. one soldier who reached out to me recently has served for ten years in the military. he never received a single reprimand whether written or

verbal. he honorably and proudly served his nation. he's been informed that despite his years of successful active duty service he will not receive an honorable discharge if he doesn't comply with the vaccine requirement. accordingly, he asked to resign from the military. his commanders made clear that he would be barred from resignation. then he sought out personal religious exemption. he was summarily told that his exemption request would be denied. of his situation, he said, quote, to be backed into a corner with two very bad options is both disheartening and sad especially with what i've sacrificed and with what my family has sacrificed on behalf of the military. close quote. another soldier told me his story. he's been in the army for 18

years. all along he was planning on retiring upon reaching two decades of service. he's been 18 months shy of reaching that point. just 18 months from that retirement point that he's been working toward for nearly two decades. and now because of the vaccine mandate, he's at risk of losing his benefits and not receiving an honorable discharge. regarding his situation he said quote this will cause a substantial loss in pay and quality of life for myself and a large number of others i know. close quote. a third soldier reached out to my office in a similar retirement situation. this soldier has children who experienced complications with receiving the vaccine. the soldier also has a child with significant learning disabilities who he's worried about providing for. he said, quote this really could be a life changing event for my family and i feel strongly enough about it that i will risk all my benefits not to

take the vaccine. i just wish i had a choice. close quote. now, these stories just barely scratch the surface of the hundreds of stories that i've heard from, from people across my state including many who are service members. these people like millions of other americans deserve a better option. they've earned that. that's why today i'm asking that the senate pass my respecting service members act. this bill would simply prohibit the secretary of defense from requiring covid-19 vaccinations for our military. i'm grateful to my colleagues, senators braun and tupperville for -- tuberville for joining me as cosponsors. this is now the seventh time i've come to the senate floor asking that the federal government take a more temparate temparate, reasoned approach. and i've said each time -- as

i've said each time before, i'm not antivaccine. in fact, i believe the development of the covid-19 vaccines was a miracle. i've been vaccinated. and i've encouraged every member of my family to be vaccinated and they've done so. i think the vaccine is a good thing. these mandates are simply the wrong way of getting it done. look, when we look at the employer vaccine mandate generally, the president doesn't have the authority. in fact, the federal government doesn't have that authority. this is not a power that belongs to the federal government to begin with. you know, even if it did we have an -- we haven't authorized the president to do this unilaterally. even if we had or even if we were now considering a measure that would give him that authority, it's worth noting here there are so many other

better, more reasoned ways to encourage vaccination. that's why i'm here today and that's why i'll be back for as long as it takes to address these mandates which are causing pain and suffering to hardworking moms and dads who don't want to have to be making a gut wrenching choice between on the one hand receiving medical treatment that they don't want, whether for religious reasons or health-related reasons related to what their doctor has advised them or some other compelling personal reason or otherwise. they shouldn't have to choice between receiving medical treatment they don't want and forfeiting their ability to put bread on the table for their children. it's un-american. it's unfair. and it's immoral. and so, mr. president as if in

legislative session, i ask unanimous consent that the armed services committee be discharged from further consideration of s. 2842 and that the senate proceed to its immediate consideration. i further ask that the bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table. the presiding officer: is there objection? mr. reed: mr. president reserving my right to object. the presiding officer: the senator from rhode island. mr. reed: on august 24, the secretary of defense determined that mandatory vaccination against covid-19 is necessary to protect the force and also to defend the american people. vaccination is not mandatory for any service member who has a legitimate medical or religious reason for not being vaccinated. mandatory vaccines are limited only to f.d.a. approved vaccines vaccines. all f.d.a. approved covid-19

vaccines have been determined to be safe and effective. and according to press reports as of october 4 active duty vaccination rates are the army 81%, the navy 90% the air force 80.9% and the marine corps 76.5%. now, mandatory vaccine is not a new issue for military personnel personnel. mandatory vaccinations for critical illnesses are mission critical and requiring vaccination is almost as old as the military itself, and i can personally verify that point. indeed service members are currently required to get 17 different vaccinations when they enter the military or before deploying overseas including for measles mumps diphtheria, hepatitis, smallpox, and the

flu. we need a healthy and ready force. we have seen what happened when navy ships were contaminated with covid. they weren't ready to deploy. they couldn't deploy. they were tied up. and their effectiveness and ability to defend the country was marginalized, to say the least. so i think this is absolutely incongrew -- inconyacht with the practice and mission of the military. one other thing i would say is one of the most fundamental ethics of the military is that every soldier sailor, marine, airman guard is prepared to sacrifice for their fellow service member. and the idea that one would put their own personal feelings

ahead of the potential for contaminating or sickening another soldier and affecting the unit is something i don't think squares with the ethic of the united states military or the effectiveness of the force. i agree with the secretary of defense and therefore i object. the presiding officer: objection is heard.

mr. bennet: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from colorado. mr. bennet: i'd ask the quorum be vitiated. the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. mr. bennet: the senate is not in a quorum call. it's amazing. it's been so long since we've had an actual debate. i'm actually delighted that you're in the chair my colleague from colorado, because over many years you have had so much to do with the fact that colorado has the second-highest turnout of any state in the country. 76% because of what we have done republicans and democrats and unaffiliated voters, working together to make sure that coloradans can cast their

ballots. i'm tired as i'm sure you are of hearing our colleague from minnesota come down here and say that minnesota is number one in voting. i think we'll catch them and maybe we'll catch them this year. but the reason why we have such a high turnout is because of things that we've put in place working in a bipartisan way. and when the presiding officer was the governor of colorado, you know, that was when really we moved to the mail-in ballot system that we have, completely fraud-free and a delight especially for people living in rural areas where it's hard to get to the ballot box sometimes. and so thank you for helping create a model for the country as we debate this bill in front of us. in fact, much of what this bill does -- i'll get to the bill in a minute -- is reflective of the work that we have done in colorado. mr. president, you came here

during a difficult time, i would say, for our democracy. this is -- this has been in many ways a near-death experience for the united states democracy. there are countries all over the world that are totalitarian societies that are counting on our country to fail. they tell us every time we sit down with them that they think we're going to fail, that democracy isn't up to the challenges of the 21st century, that it doesn't move fast enough. this place doesn't move at all many weeks and can give a person reason to wonder whether or not we're going to make it work. but in this year, we had a particularly savage experience on january 6 when the capitol was invaded by our own citizens, and we were escorted off the floor of the senate taken to a secure facility where i watched and the presiding officer watched what everybody in america saw what everybody in the world saw, which were

thousands of people streaming into this capitol. -- to try to stop the counting of the vote, at the you -- at the urgence of then-president trump. and minority nationally, because they were enough people in this body that wanted to confirm the vote we had a peaceful transfer of power and joe biden became the president of the united states. most countries that have a january 6 never survive to january 20. and when i was a kid, it was common to see these kinds of things happen in other capitols around the -- capitals on the one hand the world places like tehran. you never would have imagined it would happen here in washington d.c. and so it has happened here in you should with a. -- and now it has happened here in washington, d.c. the billing difference is that more people -- the big difference is that more people turned out to vote than at any

time in our history that we had that peaceful transfer of power. now, what are we going to do with the gift that our fellow citizens have given us? by turning out to vote in the midst of a pandemic in record numbers. what are we going to do with that gift they've given to us, a gift of democracy, i would say a new lease on life and i think we've got a moral obligation to them and to our nation's children and frankly to humanity to make sure that this democracy actually works for the american people and not for the special interests that have worked so hard to corrupt -- and there's so many ways before january 6 that our democracy was being attacked. partisan gerrymandering all over the country to allow politicians to pick their voters rather than to have voters pick their politicians. that's an incredibly undemocratic thing for us to be doing across the country.

the special interests that lobby this place who are basically unregulated by any campaign finance laws, the effect of citizens united, which was the supreme court's decision that opened the floodgates of billionaires funding american elections instead of people funding american elections, and now practices most egregiously because it is so strategic and it is so purposeful, the attack on the vote all over the united states of america. i find it hard to believe. i'm 54 -- 56 -- that's the saddest story i've ever told. i'm 56 years old mr. president. as you know, i went to college in the 1980's. and now i'm seeing laws passed that i read about in the 1980's that passed in the 1960's to try to deny people the right to vote all over the country to make it

harder to vote. just this year 19 states have passed 33 laws undermining democracy, laws to make it harder to vote he recall little or vote by -- early or vote by mail two things we treasure in the state of colorado. laws to slash the number of dropboxes or put them in really inconvenient places so people can't vote, as i do every single election with a dropbox just a few blocks from my house. it takes me 30 seconds to vote completely fraud-free. everyone in america should have the benefit of that. we've got a law that made it a crime in georgia to give people water while they're waiting in line to vote. so i know there's a tendency around this place sometimes to just think that our democracy just because it's always been here that it's always going to be around, to assume that we can

coast on the blood and the sweat and the tears of americans who came before us who fought generation after generation after generation to make it country more democratic, more fair and more freedom. this is not a time for coasting. this is a time for us to deal with the profound threat that is stealing the right of americans all over this country to vote. to have their voice heard, to be able to have a say in the direction of our democracy or whether we're going to have a democracy at all whether we're going to accept the world where -- a world where politicians like the people in this body but at the state legislatures, can overturn the independent judgment of other parts of the election apparatus, people that

held the line this year when somebody in the white house was trying to intimidate them to change their mind. we've got people in this country, mr. president -- state legislators -- that are passing laws that would allow them to do exactly what comes to said he wanted -- exactly what donald trump said he wanted them to do, which was turn over the election judgments of independently elected or appointed officials. that is something we cannottate how to have happen because the -- we cannot allow to have happen because the minute that does happen, you lose the democracy. the minute you cannot make a decision at the voting booth -- at the voting box, at the poll, the minute you can no longer make a decision there that is held up, no matter who wins and no matter who loses that has the confidence of the american people that's when you lose the democracy.

because the whole point of a democracy, the way we make decisions, is a peaceful transfer of power. and the absence of that very, very unusual aspect of our society compared to our societies around the world and the history of humanity, in the absence of that, what you confront is political violence like the violence that we saw on january 6. where people tried to take by force something that should have been decided and was decided at the ballot box. and all of this, in my view, is why it is so important for us to pass the freedom to vote act. the bill includes commonsense reforms that are broadly supported by the american people and that's because they reflect common sense just like the american people. and we know these reforms work,

mr. president, because we've already passed them in colorado, thanks in large part to your leadership. we've banned gerrymandering. we don't have it in our state. so again politicians in colorado don't have the right to choose who their voters are. voters get to choose who their elected leaders are. we have automatic voter registration as this bill has. early voting so people have a chance to get off work and go to vote and don't have to just be there on election day. vote by mail, a -- vote by mail, which i have to say up until the last president's presidency, there was no one in america that was concerned by vote by mail. we had cast millions of ballots in this country without a shred of fraud. just ask the american enterprise institute. they're the ones that said you are more likely to get struck by

lightning than participate in voter fraud. -- by voting by mail. that's not a democratic-leaning organization, as everybody on this floor knows. secure drop boxes in your neighborhood where it takes 30 seconds to vote. every time i go there next to the botanic gardens in my neighborhood, i think of all the people in this country in 2021 that don't have the ability to drop their ballot off in a ballot box, who are having to wait in line for hours for the privilege to vote just because of the state they live in. we should have basic national standards for people. it's a civil rights issue. it's an issue that's fundamental to our democracy. and having a convenient ballot

box is one of those things. having mail-in ballots is one of those things. we have had zero fraud in our system. as i said earlier in many ways it is as important to rural colorado as any other part of our state because people live a long way from the ballot box. if our state's history is any guide at all, we can do this in a bipartisan way. and it's not surprising to me that vast majorities of americans, whether they're republicans or independents or democrats, support the provisions that are in this bill by wide, wide margins. i'm -- i'm going to be pleased to go back to colorado and to have the chance to tell them that we've banned dark money from our political system. that the supreme court's

fundamental misunderstanding in citizens united, where they completely mis-defined the problem and failed to see the corruption of inaction that happens around here, the things that aren't done because of the dark money that's spent in our elections because for fear that some billionaire is going to show up and throw what to them is nothing into a race that could determine the outcome of our elections. we've got to change that, mr. president. the only way we can do that is by passing this bill. and i think that if we pass this bill, what we'd find is that states all over this country would see 76% of the people voting just like in colorado, instead of 50% of the people voting, or 40% of the people voting. and that would have a huge impact on what we're doing here.

we could show the world we can actually compete with the communist government in china. we could resolve the question about whether democracy is up to this in the 21st century or not. we could invest in the next generation of americans. we could improve our schools. we could build our roads and our bridges, invest in the future again, as so many generations of americans have done in the past when they stood up for democracy and the next generation of americans. that is the question that we are confronted with today as we take this vote. are we going to stand up for our democracy? are we going to stand up for humanity who is relying on us to deliver a democracy that works? and are we going to stand up for the next generation of americans and remain a beacon to the rest of the world? we're committed to our highest ideals and not our worst

instincts. i think we have the chance today when we take this vote to follow generations of americans who have in their lives lived out those best ideals rather than caving in to our worst instincts. it seems to me putting democrats and republicans aside the question in front of us is -- are you for democracy or not? are you for the freedom to vote or not? are you for maximizing fraud-free elections where people can actually turn out to vote no matter where they live? or are you suppressing the vote of our fellow countrymen and women? that is the question before us. and because it's such a clear question, i would urge every one of my colleagues, republican or democrat, to vote for this legislation so we can set a basic standard for what

the freedom to vote should look like in the united states of america. with that, mr. president i appreciate your indulgence and your patience, and i yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll.

a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. ms. ernst: mr. president i ask that the quorum call be vitiated. the presiding officer: without objection. ms. ernst: mr. president life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. our nation was founded upon this set of inalienable rights that are provided to each one of us not by government, but by our divine creator who made us all equal. it is the role of the government to secure these blessings. regardless of our differences

and disagreements these principles outlined in our founding documents have always united us and made america exceptional. they are the framework of the american dream the promise that through self-determination hard work, and opportunity, we can all achieve a better life for ourselves and for our families. yet, whether you are pursuing a career attending school, maybe starting a business or shopping for a dream home, d.c. politicians and government bureaucrats are increasingly dictating when you may exercise your rights and how you can live your life and then spying on

you to make sure that you are following the rules. this washington-knows-best approach is negatively impacting nearly every aspect of your life and you may not realize it. to demonstrate the point let's walk through a few common scenarios and the real-life consequences you could face as a result of the biden administration's policies. for each, ask yourself in this situation is the government acting to secure or subvert your rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. you work hard and probably put

some of your earnings away in a savings account to pay your monthly bills or to be prepared for an unexpected emergency. and, folks that's just the smart thing to do. well, if you deposit or withdraw more than $10,000 over the course of a year, the biden administration wants the i.r.s. to be able to spy on you. to put this number into perspective, if you are renting an apartment in iowa, the average annual cost to do so is just over $10,000 per year. that's the threshold folks. why does washington even need to know this information about you? the treasury department says

this is necessary to make sure, quote, the top 1% can't evade end quote paying taxes. you heard that right. the biden administration thinks you are rich if over the course of an entire year you either save or spend $10,000. and they might even have the i.r.s. audit you for tax evasion. treating american citizens like criminal suspects for the innocent act of using a bank account is, quite frankly un-american. the biden administration has been up front about its motive here. washington democrats are looking to collect as many tax dollars as possible to finance their

never-ending reckless spending sprees. and as a direct result of these budget-busting bills government inflation is driving up prices and limiting availability of everyday essentials. let's take a look at life in joe biden's america. the cost of food, the cost of rent the cost of nearly everything just keeps going up and up. meanwhile, the size of many products is shrinking which means you have to work harder, pay more, and get a heck of a lot less. it's even costing more just to get to the grocery store. gas is now more than $3 a

gallon the highest price in six years. and this really shouldn't come as a surprise. remember on his first day on the job, president biden signed an executive order to end the keystone x.l. pipeline, killing thousands of jobs and limiting our access to oil and gas supplies. and while costs keep going up, just finding what you need or want has become yet another ordeal. as a result of biden box which paid people not to work for most of the year, many products are in short supply or unavailable all -- altogether.

shipping companies are facing equipment shortages and of course they remain understaffed. and, folks this crisis isn't ending any time soon. the upcoming holiday season is already being referred to as biden's blue christmas. the white house is even warning there will be items people can't get for christmas so let's just hope for the sake of the kids who have been good all year that biden's broken supply chain problems don't extend all the way to the north pole. and speaking of kids, let's take a look at what might happen to parents who take a vocal role in their children's education. it's a good thing for parents to be active in their children's education, and it comes as no

surprise that they can often get very passionate about the subject. so imagine going to a school board meeting and exercising your right to express your concerns about a new policy for a proposed curriculum at your child's school. but instead of having those issues addressed you find yourself labeled as a domestic terrorist. yeah folks you heard that right. a domestic terrorist under investigation by our nation's chief law enforcement agency. it sounds insane, right? but it's a crea disi reality today -- it's a crazy reality

today. president biden's administration is moabledzing -- mobilizing the f.b.i. against parents who make their voices heard at school board meetings. let me be very clear about this violence or threats of violence against board members teachers or any public officials should never ever be tolerated. but neither should threats of intimidation by the government to coerce parents to surrender control over their children's education. this is happening at the same time the f.b.i. announced the largest spike in homicides ever recorded. i'm not talking about this year folks. i'm not talking about last year

or five, six years past. we're talking about the largest spike in homicides ever recorded. and with murder and violent crimes increasing, the president's liberal allies in congress are threatening to defund the police. that approach certainly is not going to secure life, liberty or the pursuit of happiness. folks, all of these disturbing trends we just talked about are stark reminders that the principles our nation was founded upon are not guaranteed. every generation of americans owes it to the next generation to preserve and strengthen the blessings of liberty we were

fortunate enough to inherit. i'd expect government coercion state snooping, empty shelves and out-of-control inflation in nations with socialist regimes like china cuba, and venezuela. but regardless of who our president may be, we must never, ever accept any of these as part of life in america. thank you, mr. president. i yield the floor. ms. klobuchar: i ask unanimous consent to speak for ten minutes on the matter at hand. the presiding officer: without

objection. ms. klobuchar: mr. president i come to speak in support of what is right before us right now and that is proceeding to debate on legislation that is critical to our democracy the freedom to vote act, which i introduced with the members of the voting rights working group assembled by senator schumer, that would be senators manchin merkley padilla, tester, merkley and warnock. we all have our names on this bill and feel strongly about this legislation. this is fundamental to all of our freedoms and it is currently under attack. since the 2020 elections we have seen a persistent and coordinated assaulted on the right to vote. it is under attack after polling locations have been closed on a massive scale and purged hundreds of thousands of voters

and foreign adversaries have attempted to interfere in our election. these attacks on our democracy demand a federal response. when you have one state attacked by a foreign adversary when they try to get into the voter rolls of illinois and hawaii, are we going to expect those states to respond on their own? when we have an assault -- a coordinated assault on voting rights so that similar bills across the country to limit dropoff boxes when you have coordinated attacks to limit vote by mail, when you have coordinated attacks to limit registration to vote, it demands a federal response. and what is amazing about our constitution is that the founding fathers anticipated this because right in the constitution it says that congress this place where we work can make and alter the laws regarding federal elections. it is bulletproof.

it has been upheld time and time again. the urgent need for action could not be more serious. with over 400 bills having been introduced in nearly every state to limit the freedom to vote and over 30 of those have been signed into law with redistricting under way to draw congressional maps that will define our democracy for the next decade and the first primary for the 2022 elections is in a little over four months in texas we must act now. it has been over nine months, just nine months, since that violent mob of insurrectionists stormed into this chamber opened up people's desk, sat where the presiding officer is sitting right now. they des indicated the -- desecrated the capitol. it was an attack on public servants, police officers who

were serving us that day. as i said from the inaugural stages two weeks later under the beautiful blue sky at the very place where you could still see the spray paint on the columns where we stood in front of make-shift windows where we stood in front of political parties of both chambers, i said this is a day that democracy picks itself up, brushes itself out and does what it always does go forward with one nation under god with liberty for all. with this freedom to vote act which includes provisions that have the support of 78% of americans who favor two weeks of early voting and 83% of voters who support public disclosure of campaign contributions because they believe the people should be running the government, not

lobbists not outside groups, we will take it back again from those who are trying to take away people's constitutional right to vote. with 19 states having enacted laws this year to roll back the freedom to vote, we can't simply sit back and watch our democracy threatened, whether it be threatened with bear spray axes or long lines no ballot dropoff boxes and secret money we must stand up for our democracy whether we're democrats, republicans or independents. that's what our country is about. when we are faced with a coordinated effort across the country with the limit of voting we must stand up. iowa montana and last month in texas, we are up against a coordinated attack.

as reverend rafael warnock said, some people don't want some people to vote. that is what this is about. what is the freedom to vote act about? it is about minimum standards for voting. you know, it's 15 days early voting. my state goes up over 40 days. that's not what we put in this bill. we put minimum standards in the bill. ensuring voters have access to at least two weeks of early voting, voters who can cast their mail-in ballot, a way that people use it had to safely vote in the middle of a public health crisis and they did it because they believed in our democracy no matter which way they voted. why would we take away that right from them now? well, you are seeing a curtailing of that right in many states across this country. it counters partisan

interference in an election administration and make shiewrs that super pacs that hide behind veils have to show who is giving money. it prohibits partisan gerrymandering we listened to secretaries of state across the country, democrats and republicans, we listened to our senator manchin. it provides flexibility for small and vote by mail jurisdictions on early voting. it makes it easier to implement automatic voting registration, it creates a new flexible source of federal funding to help our states. it ensures election officials can use best practices for maintaining accurate and up-to-date voter rolls. -- rolls. it is important to recognize that the voting act is the first piece of voting rights legislation for this senate to come to the senate floor with

the support of all 50 senate democrats. now our republican colleagues may not agree with everything in this bill. okay then don't be scared. don't hide behind your desk. don't deny us the right to simply debate this bill. our leader, senator schumer, has made it very clear. we are open to amendments on this bill. we welcome your amendments. we're not putting a limit on amendments. so why would you shy away from debating this bill unless you just don't want the american people to hear the truth? unless you don't want the stories told about what's going on in places like georgia where voters are now being asked to put their birth date on the outside of the inside envelope or maybe you don't want to have the stories told of how voters in wisconsin almost, except for the governor stopping it, in its tracks that voters of wisconsin

almost were limited in the entire city of milwaukee to one dropoff box. that bill passed their legislature. that's what we're talking about here. so let's have this debate. let's hear the argument. let's not stop the debate over the fundamental right to vote that our entire democracy is founded on. if our republican colleagues have constructive ideas of ways to improve this legislation, if they are willing to work with us on amendments, then we are prepared to hear them. we are simply asking them to open up the debate. instead it will be more people standing in line like they did in wisconsin in the primary in home made masks in garbage bags in a rainstorm to exercise their right to vote. it's going to be people, like in

georgia, you can't even vote on weekends in the run-off period. it's going to be people who served in our military. who have had to wait in line in hot sun to wait for hours to vote that didn't help when -- happen when they signed up to serve our country but it happens when they try to vote. let's have that debate. americans have fought and died to protect our freedom to vote. they've done so on the battlefield and they've done so in marchs during the civil rights movement and 56 years after the voting rights act was passed by this chamber and signed into law we cannot shut down the debate. our nation was founded on the ideals of democracy and we've seen for ourselves in this very building that we can't afford to take that for granted. we can't do it when legislatures

and legislators and members of congress get to pick and choose who will be able to vote easily. we do it by debating real ideas and standing on the shoulders of those who went out to vote. that's what a democracy is about. i urge my colleagues to open up the debate, to not be afraid to shut down the debate, to not hide under their desks to not put their heads down. i urge them to simply open up the debate. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order the question is on the nomination. ms. klobuchar: we ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears. the clerk will call the roll. vote:

vote: