mr. shelby: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. shelby: reserving the right to object again i ask that the senator modify his request to include my amendment number 2535 and that it be agreed to. the presiding officer: does the senator from delaware so amend? mr. carper: i do not. the presiding officer: is there objection to the original request by the senator from delaware? mr. shelby: i object. the presiding officer: the objection is heard. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from pennsylvania. mr. toomey: so for people who have been watching this and aren't familiar with the bizarre practices in this body, i want to just explain briefly what just happened here. because there's a difference of opinion on whether or not the senator from alabama should get a vote on his amendment because that is not agreed to, the body is refusing to take up an amendment that has broad bipartisan support that we all know fixing something that badly needs to be fixed. this isn't like a whim of the senator from pennsylvania. t

i went to go right to the shelby county opinion, and i have a question for mr. stein that deals with the addressing of concentration in the jurisdiction. justice roberts asserts it may deliver be constituted jurisdiction singled out for preclearance. could you quickly, mr. henderson, answer these questions. has your organization found there was a concentration of voting rights violations in certain jurisdictions? as the covid-19 crisis like in harris county escalated ongoing

mr. mccrery, when striking down shelby county.hief justice roberts relied on the proposition that minority voter registration and turnout has significantly improved in the country. should congress look at other indicators in addition to registration and turnout to measure the pervasiveness or persistence of race discrimination in the voting process? mr. mccrery? while he is frozen let me ask mr. spital, how has the public's ability to monitor voting changes been affected now that covered jurisdictions did not have to notify the attorney general of voting changes, and has the lack of notice impacted the ability of private plaintiffs to block changes through legislation? mr. spital: thank you very much for the question. absolutely, especially at the local level. without section 5 it is very difficult to be aware of the full range of a changes, discriminatory voting practices that are occurring at the local level which has been an impediment to civil rights organizations ringing litigation to challenge practices. rep. johnson: let me

shelby. i want to thank mr. raskin for pointing out that the supreme court invited this congress in shelby to go back and look at the voting rights act, which is exactly what we are doing today. the minute the shelby county decision came down, i was serving in the state legislature, the republican majority passed the, what was called the monster voting suppression law. because it did not have to be precleared for the first time since 1965. and attorneys used section 2 of the voting rights act to bring a lawsuit, which struck down the monster voter suppression law because it targeted african-americans with almost surgical precision. so the monster voter suppression law did not go into place. and in north carolina, there has been a hisry over decades and decades -- history over decades and decades of keeping african-americans and other minorities from having their full right to vote through packing and crafting in redistricting. which is why we have the imperative, the imperative of passing this bill before the ful

mr. bernal: yes. representative: was it just section five that was overturned in the shelby county decision eight years ago? mr. bernal: yes. representative and the reason was because this body failed to update the data? mr. bernal: that was among the reasons. representative: so the 96 to five voting rights act remains in effect, provision, section five, overturned because was 50-year-old data. do you believe texas should submit to the department of justice for any changes it makes in voting laws or formulas? mr. bernal: yes. ms. collier: the historical nature of texas -- representative: yes or no? should they submit to the department of justice for preclearance? ms. collier: yes. representative for the record: my colleagues want to differ to washington for what we should do in texas. are you all aware you are violating texas law by being here right now instead of in the texas legislative session? it would be in order to arrest you were you in the state of texas to get you to the steakhouse, do we agree those -- at the statehouse, do we agree on those? mr. bernal: that is unconstitutional. i don't thin

senator shelby who told me the other day this is the 35th year on the committee. some of those years were -- >> thank you, mrchairman. despite the challenges caused by the pandemic, our banking system overall has remained resilient with strong capitol liquidity measures. from 200822013 during the midst of the financial crisis, or 89 fdic insured banks failed. in comparison, since march of 2020, it's my understanding only three banks have failed during that period. so you deserve some credit, you and your board. much credit for the efforts here. what is your assessment on banks resiliency during the covid-19 and now? what you credit for the ability to withstand the effects of the pandemic? >> thank you. want to congratulate you on your 25th anniversary. >> one-time. >> i would like to stay the years i've been on the board cap, to but we are grown with 35. i prided my experience as a personal production attorney at the federal reserve for 2008, nine and ten. we feel a number of consumer calls during that time so when the pandemic came upon us, i was not going to allow the same cost to come so we started placin

mr. bishop: when the details are known, the absence of factual basis becomes plain. nobody's getting wet. a university of oregon economist showed just in february that the shelby county decision to which this bill purports to respond has not impaired black voter turnout at all. there is no jim crow 2.0. this bill is about abuse of power. democrats wish to entrench themselves in power and to use the federal government to obliterate the states in order to achieve it. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. mr. bishop: you've got to know the facts. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman reserves. the gentleman from new york is recognized. mr. nadler: madam speaker, i now yield 45( seconds to -- 45 seconds to the distinguished gentleman from rhode island, mr. langevin. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. langevin: madam speaker, i rise in strong support of the john r. lewis voting rights advancement act. as rhode islander's former secretary of state, i know the importance of access to the ballot box. that's why i was devastated when the supreme court gutted one of our most momentous civil rights bill, opening the door to a

mr. davis, 1965 congress passed the voting rights act and good things to be done but we are a long way from there and the shelby county versus holder supreme court decision the court said there is no need ton continue preclearance requirement. here is a quote from the chief justice. the measures no longer characterize voting in the covered jurisdiction. african american-american turnout today exceeds white turnout in five of the six coveraged states. during the past election voter turnout was higher across all racial groups as opposed to all prior presidential elections. united states of america is the greatest country in the world and no question that our country has advanced the cause of liberty and democracy than any other nation and democrats don't want to acknowledge where we are at today. h.r. 4 would subject state and localities to the whims of partisan bureaucrats within president biden's department ofjustice and and no, no, no, you have to get permission from the big federal government, do what they say when it comes to their election laws an even if you want to go back to a year before, a year before

mr. shelby: mr. president, i call up my amendment number 3293 and ask it be reported by number. this is an amendment by shelby, inhofe, wicker, and others dealing with defense infrastructure. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from alabama, mr. shelby, for himself and others proposals an amendment numbered 3293. mr. shelby: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from alabama. mr. shelby: this amendment provides $50.2 billion to meet defense infrastructure needs across this nation. i believe we need to modernize our shipyards, our test ranges, our depots, ammunition plants, install 5g technology at military bases, support our nuclear defense infrastructure, and so much more. these infrastructure projects are absolutely critical to our national security. they impact millions of jobs across the country, both military and civilian. we're talking about projects not just in my home state of alabama but in arizona, georgia, virginia, rhode island, connecticut, maine, california, hawaii, maryland, nevada, new mexico, and many more. actually, a

mr. shelby: reserving the right to object. i'd ask now that the senator modify his request to include my amendment numbered 2535, and i will speak to that briefly. the underlying bill includes billions of dollars for all manner of infrastructure investments in the u.s. however, it fails to address critical infrastructure needs to support our national defense. this amendment that i am bringing forth would rectify that. i believe that we cannot in america continue to spend hand over fist on domestic priorities. a lot of them are important -- without investing dime one in our national defense infrastructure. this would rectify that, and i would ask that it include my amendment in this. the presiding officer: is there an objection to the modification? the senator from iowa is recognized. ms. ernst: reserving the right to object, i would ask that the request be further modified to include my amendment numbered 2639, and my amendment is very simple. it requires a public price tag to be put on projects funded with taxpayer dollars by

mr. ewliesy: first of all i'd like to thank my lord and savior jesus christ, my family, beautiful wife, shelby. of -- my incredible daughter and my incredible son. my parents, texas, california, poppa looking done on me from heaven. i'd like to thank my family in the 6th district of texas. i will serve you with quiet professionalism. i would like to read to you etheseans four versus 8 through 9. finally brothers and sisters whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable if there is any more excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy dwell on these things. do what you have learned and received and heard from me and seen in me and the god of peace will be with you. i believe america is exceptional. i love my country. it's an honor to serve. i a appreciate the prayers of all -- i would appreciate the prayers of all those in here as i learn my job. i would like to leave you with a moment of silence for your colleague, our friend, and my predecessor, ron wright and his family. thank you. i yield back. >> on monday, dr.

shelby 3293, grassley 3251, wyden 3569, tuberville 3113, klobuchar 3731. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. a senator: mr. president. the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina. mr. scott: i call up my amendment 3073 and ask that it be reported by number. the presiding officer: the clerk will report. the clerk: the senator from south carolina, mr. scott, proposes an amendment numbered 3073. the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina. mr. scott: thank you, mr. president. in over a year of uncertainty and the pain of living through a pandemic, i have to admit i'm shocked that i have to come down here to talk about the importance of quality in-person education. today we are debating a $4 trillion tax and spending bill, and that's on top of the $2 trillion we spent in march and the $4 trillion we spent last year. how insane is that? with all that spending, there is still no guarantee that our kids will be back in school this fall. the sad reality is more than one million kids did not enroll in their local schools during the pandemic. thanks to labor union bosses and their unneeded and damaging sc