Filibuster (Cong. Rec., Jan. 18, 2022)
Summary
Congressional Record, Senate, January 18, 2022 (beginning at page S233), under the heading Filibuster. The page opens with a speech urging passage of the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act and a change to the Senate rules, quoting Durbin on protecting the right of debate. McConnell then argues against ending the 60-vote threshold, citing a vote on Nord Stream 2 that drew 55 votes and a Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights statement from about 15 years ago defending the filibuster. Cantwell says that she cares about the future of the institution but more about the future of democracy.
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“Filibuster (Cong. Rec., Jan. 18, 2022).”
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January 18, 2022 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S233
turnout among Black voters to con- for over a year, denying the will of We already knew Washington Demo-
tinue for more than half a century, nearly 66 million Americans who voted crats didn’t have any principled opposi-
until the Senate passed the Civil to give President Obama a second term tion to Senate rules. Democrats repeat-
Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting in office; the same person who pushed edly filibustered the CARES Act in
Rights Act of 1965 over 70 years later. through President Trump’s Supreme March of 2020, while insisting on
A recent Washington Post analysis Court nominee as over 159 million changes. Democrats filibustered and
said that this current wave of voter Americans were in the process of vot- killed Senator TIM SCOTT’s police re-
suppression bills potentially amounts ing. So much for compromise and mod- form bill.
to ‘‘the most sweeping contraction of eration. You only have to go back a few years
ballot access in the United States since Let’s not pretend this is about the to read vigorous defenses of the fili-
the end of Reconstruction.’’ sanctity of this institution. We cannot buster from our Democratic colleagues
Today, these attacks on our freedom sit back and let one political party and their allies.
to vote are taking us back to the time continue to unravel the threads of our The Democratic whip, Senator DUR-
of Reconstruction. democracy one voter suppression bill BIN, put it this way:
We cannot wait another 70 years for at a time. While Republicans do noth- We need to protect the right of debate in
this so-called deliberative body to act, ing to protect our freedom to vote in the Senate, preserve checks and balances so
which is why we need to pass com- the face of mass voter suppression bills that no one party can do whatever it wants.
enacted across the country, we Demo- We need to preserve the voice of the minor-
prehensive voter protection legislation.
ity in America.
But not a single Republican supports crats cannot sit back and let 2020 be
the Freedom to Vote: John Lewis Act. the last free and fair election in our DICK DURBIN.
The Democratic leader himself said
Many of my Republican colleagues country.
If we don’t protect the right to vote, in 2017 that we need to ‘‘find a way to
have joined Congressman John Lewis
we won’t have a democracy. It is that build a firewall around the legislative
to commemorate the March from
simple. That is the reality. Since the filibuster’’—build a firewall around the
Selma to Montgomery, but today they
Republicans will not lift a finger to legislative filibuster.
won’t even allow the Senate to con- Then, in a letter that same year by 32
sider legislation named in his honor protect voting rights, we have no op-
Senate Democrats, our colleagues de-
and have called this bill radical. There tion but to change the Senate rules in
manded—demanded—that the 60-vote
is nothing radical about protecting a order to pass the Freedom to Vote:
threshold stay right where it was.
person’s freedom to vote. What is rad- John R. Lewis Act. This is something
Until the last couple of years, Sen-
ical is sending us back to the days of that every single Democratic Senator
ators on both sides have understood
Reconstruction. needs to get on board with.
the Senate is not here to rubberstamp
This legislation would restore and I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum. massive changes by thin majorities.
strengthen the Voting Rights Act, This institution exists to do exactly
which Congress reauthorized with The PRESIDING OFFICER. The
clerk will call the roll. the opposite—to make sure major laws
broad bipartisan support five times— receive major buy-in and have major
1970, 1975, 1982, 1992—and it passed 98 to The senior assistant legislative clerk
proceeded to call the roll. staying power, and, historically, Demo-
0 in 2006, which included 10 currently cratic allies outside this Chamber have
Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I
sitting Senate Republicans. recognized this as well.
ask unanimous consent that the order
This bill would also expand opportu- Let’s go back about 15 years ago
for the quorum call be rescinded.
nities to vote, prevent voter suppres- when Republicans controlled the Sen-
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without
sion, and improve election security. We ate. A leftwing organization called The
objection, it is so ordered.
are talking about provisions that Leadership Conference on Civil and
f
would require States to offer early vot- Human Rights published a lengthy
ing and no-excuse vote-by-mail, make RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY statement defending—defending—the
election day a public holiday, crack LEADER filibuster, including—listen to this—its
down on voter intimidation, and re- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Re- relationship to civil rights.
quire postelection audits. Again, I ask, publican leader is recognized. Here is what they had to say when
how is any of this radical? What is rad- f Republicans were in the majority here
ical is justifying overt attacks on our in the Senate:
democracy by perpetuating the Big Lie FILIBUSTER
On behalf of the Leadership Conference on
of mass voter fraud. Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, late Civil Rights, the nation’s oldest, largest, and
For Republicans, this fight isn’t last week, our Democratic colleagues most diverse civil and human rights coali-
about election security; it is about se- briefly paused their quest to destroy tion, with more than 180 member organiza-
curing their power, because Repub- the Senate’s 60-vote threshold just long tions, we urge you to oppose—
licans have decided that spreading mis- enough to use the 60-vote threshold oppose—
information and rigging elections by themselves to block a bill. any efforts to eliminate the 216-year-old fili-
preventing people from voting is the Republicans supported sanctioning buster in the United States Senate.
only way they will retain their power. the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline that would That is a coalition of 180 member or-
Republicans should come to the Sen- give Russia even more leverage to ganizations called The Civil and
ate floor and tell the American people bully Europe. Most of our Democratic Human Rights Coalition.
why they won’t protect our freedom to colleagues bowed to the furious lob- They went on.
vote. Instead, the Republican leader bying from the Biden administration to The elimination of the rights of the minor-
came to the floor to attack Democrats protect Putin’s pipeline. There were 55 ity as embodied by the filibuster is contrary
for fighting to change Senate rules to votes to pass the bill that our friends, to the founding fathers’ vision of the Senate
pass this critical legislation, calling it like Ukrainian President Zelensky, as a body of equals designed to protect
a power grab. against the tyranny of the majority.
desperately wanted passed, but Demo-
The Republican leader said that crats blocked it by denying 60. This statement continued.
Democrats want to ‘‘permanently dam- Now, many of these same colleagues The civil rights community has recognized
age this institution.’’ He went on to have spent weeks thundering—literally and accepted the value—
say the filibuster is ‘‘about com- thundering—that the Senate’s 60-vote The value—
promise and moderation’’—this from threshold is an offensive tool of ob- of the filibuster even when it frustrated ef-
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
the Republican leader who refers to struction, a Jim Crow relic, declaring forts to advance civil rights legislative
himself as the grim reaper as he pre- that simple majorities should always goals. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, countless
civil rights bills were filibustered. The Civil
vents dozens of House-passed bills from get their way. Ah, but late last week,
Rights Act of 1964 was not passed until it
being considered on the Senate floor; they literally wielded the 60-vote survived 75 days of the longest filibuster in
the same person who singlehandedly threshold themselves—a useful re- history and the Senate voted 71–29 to end de-
prevented President Obama from fill- minder of just how fake—fake—the bate and finally passed the bill. This legisla-
ing a vacancy on the Supreme Court hysteria has been. tion was enacted because of long, hard work
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S234 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE January 18, 2022
to build support across partisan, ideological, enfranchise people. Of course, when H.R. 5746
and regional lines. We worked to bring Democrats went on to win the White
Americans together—not to push them far-
Ms. CANTWELL. Madam President, I
House, the 2020 election went from pre- care about the future of this institu-
ther apart.
sumptively illegitimate to exemplary tion, but right now, I care more about
They concluded: and unquestionable overnight. Around the future of our democracy. Our coun-
We never demanded the end of the system the same time, mid-2019, Senator SCHU- try has been the bedrock for democ-
of checks and balances. In the end, we won MER began floating a nuclear attack on
the battle by changing votes and not—
racies around the world. It has been
Senate rules. It is completely the gold standard by which other coun-
Not— untethered from the elections issue. He tries wishing to achieve transparency
by breaking the rules. just thought breaking the rules would and validation of their governments,
These were leftwing activists writing make for a livelier stint as majority have asked us to come and witness
less than 20 years ago. leader. their elections.
So let’s spell this out. Democrats Let’s not forget what is great about a
Washington Democrats have wanted
want the American people to believe democracy. The power rests with the
the power to rewrite the rules for polit-
the filibuster was not a Jim Crow relic people. And when you have an election,
ical speech and election laws long, long
in 2005; it was not even a Jim Crow it is the people who have spoken.
before the events that are supposed to
relic in 2020; just miraculously became So whether it was F.D.R. and the
justify it, and the Democratic leader’s
a Jim Crow relic in 2021; briefly New Deal, or Ronald Reagan declaring
effort to break the Senate long pre-
stopped being a Jim Crow relic last ‘‘Morning in America,’’ the people had
dates the latest pretext.
Thursday, but it is now back to being a spoken, and the country went about
Jim Crow relic this week. We have strong disagreements about the change that was implemented be-
Now, to be clear, the partisan elec- the substance of these bills, but, even cause of free and fair elections.
tion takeover bills that Democrats more broadly, we see decreasing trust Trust me, there are countries who
want to ram through this week are in our democracy among both political are jealous of this. They obviously run
not—not—in any way successors of the sides. We have a sitting President of their countries by other means. They
civil rights legislation from the mid- the United States shouting that U.S. are less stable, and they are less egali-
20th century. It has been, is today, and Senators are on the side of Bull Connor tarian. And yet, if we think of the
will remain illegal to discriminate and Jefferson Davis for refusing to many great advantages of a democracy,
against voters anywhere in America shatter the Senate. nothing says it better than the people
because of their race—period. That is Was the Senate created to make have spoken.
the law now. these kinds of factional fevers worse or Yet now, we have a former President
Targeting Americans’ online speech to help break the fevers? Does the Sen- of the United States, Donald Trump,
and sending government money to po- ate exist to help narrow majorities who has dared to say and continues to
litical campaigns is not about civil double down on divisions or to force say the people haven’t spoken. Donald
rights. It is about tilting the playing broad coalitions to build bridges? Trump is not just like the guy at a
field. Weakening wildly popular voter football game who doesn’t like the ref-
This fake hysteria does not prove the eree’s calls. Donald Trump has taken it
ID laws and making it harder to Senate is obsolete. It proves the Senate
produce accurate voter rolls is not to a whole new level of basically, with-
is as necessary as ever. out evidence, saying his team didn’t
about making voting easier; it is about
making cheating easier. Changing the Republicans have supported this lim- lose the game.
laws so that our partisan Attorney itation on the majority’s power both Can you imagine an NFL or college
General can rewrite voting laws with- when we have been in the minority, football structure where the coach
which these rules protect, and when we says, ‘‘I don’t like the ref’s call. My
out even having to win in court is not
have been the majority, which they in- team didn’t lose the game. And I’m
about promoting justice; it is about
convenience. going to spend the rest of my time
short-circuiting justice. This is about
going, marching around to every foot-
one party wanting the power to unilat- And last week, some of our col-
ball game and every community saying
erally rewrite the rule book of Amer- leagues across the aisle reconfirmed
my team didn’t lose the game.’’
ican elections. that they have the courage and the Well, thank God college and profes-
Now, interestingly, the Biden admin- principle to keep their word and to pro- sional coaches know better. They don’t
istration staff has gone out of its way tect the institution as well. But too do this. And yet former President
lately to highlight my—my—long, many of our colleagues across the aisle Trump keeps saying, I don’t like the
strong record on real civil rights and still want to respond to a 50–50 Senate call of election officials, judges, Fed-
real voting rights. The President’s with a rule-breaking power grab. eral courts, never mind there were 60
Press Secretary explained that I have Voting to break this institution will decisions by different courts. I am
‘‘a pretty strong record of supporting not be a free vote or a harmless action, going to protest the outcome of this
voting rights.’’ She is right about that. even if their effort fails. An unprinci- election.
And that is exactly why I have no pa- pled attempt at grabbing power is not Never in the history of our country
tience—none—for the unrelated par- harmless just because it fails. Voting do I know a major race where someone
tisan takeover that some Democrats to break the Senate is not cost-free declared they really didn’t lose. What
are trying to rebrand with that banner. just because a bipartisan majority of if everybody went around saying, I
The Democratic leader argues that your colleagues have the wisdom to really didn’t lose? What if our system
his proposed elections takeover and his stop you. It is amazing that our col- of governments would be affected by
efforts to break the Senate are last re- leagues are this in thrall to radical ac- that?
sorts because of new State laws that tivists. Well, it is getting to that level of ab-
passed in 2021. He says it is irrelevant surdity. The Republican nominee in
that 2020 saw record turnout and—lis- We have inflation, a pandemic, ramp-
the 2020 Washington gubernatorial
ten to this—94 percent said voting was ant violent crime, a border crisis, and
election lost by over 600,000 votes. Yet
easy because this debate is exclusively possibly a war on the European con-
he claimed voter fraud. He lost by 56–
about what happened in 2021. But tinent. But rather than work on any of
43. And even though he lost by such a
Democrats have been pushing these that, Senate Democrats want to march huge margin, he claimed voter fraud.
same policy charges in the same Chick- their own legacies with a reckless—
SSpencer on DSK126QN23PROD with SENATE
He sued the secretary of state, who
en Little rhetoric since 2019, a year and reckless—procedural vote they know happened to be a Republican, in King
a half before 2020 election, which will fail. A faction this desperate for County Superior Court. He only
Democrats now call a high-turnout unlimited short-term power is a faction dropped the election fraud lawsuit
success. that must be denied it. after the court threatened his lawyer
The Democratic leader gave an inter- The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. with making meritless claims.
view claiming that evil Republicans HIRONO). The Senator from Wash- Do we really understand this danger,
were trying to attack voting and dis- ington. the danger of people in our country, to
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