Amy Klobuchar

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, Senator Hoeven and I are here to speak in favor of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, but I did want to first thank Senator Murkowski for her well-reasoned remarks and for her willingness to go forward with this debate. This is a debate about fundamental voting rights. We may not agree on everything, but she wants to have the debate, and that is all we are asking for. We are asking to move forward with this very important piece of legislation. If there are things people don't like or things they like, we can discuss them, but this place has got to start working. We need to restore the Senate so we can debate the big issues of our time. I truly appreciate Senator Murkowski's willingness to do this today with her vote.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. With that, I will turn it over to Senator Murray. Thank you very much, Senator Hoeven.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I look forward to responding to my colleague in the future, but I can tell you that people I know around the country want to see their costs go down, and that is exactly what this bill is about. It is about bringing families' costs down, from childcare to taking care of loved ones; seniors; to bring down the cost of prescription drugs--something that has eluded our colleagues on the other side of the aisle, despite a lot of claims that they would do something about it. So we look forward to debating this bill and getting it done. American Innovation and Choice Online Act Mr. President, I come to the floor today to speak on behalf of a very important piece of new legislation that is bipartisan. I introduced this bill, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act, in the last month with Senator Grassley, who was here with us today and will be here shortly; as well as my colleagues Senator Durbin, the chair of the Judiciary Committee; Senator Lindsey Graham, the former chair of the Judiciary Committee; Richard Blumenthal, who is here with us today; Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana; Senator Cory Booker; Senator Josh Hawley; Senator Cynthia Lummis; and Senator Mazie Hirono, who is here with us today; as well as Senator Mark Warner. America has a major monopoly power problem, and nowhere is this more obvious than with tech. It is because, in part, it is 20 percent of our economy. And while we love the new jobs, the new ideas, the new technology that have come out, we all know that you can't just do nothing on privacy, do nothing on competition, and that our competition laws haven't been updated in any serious way since the invention of the internet. I am here, again, joined with Senator Grassley. I am going to let him go ahead of me and then turn to Senator Blumenthal and Senator Hirono, and I will finish up because they have been very patient. I so appreciate Senator Grassley's leadership in this area; one, to make sure the FTC and the Department of Justice Antitrust have the funding they need with the bill that we passed through this Chamber to update merger fees, as well as the work that we are doing right now. It is so important on self-preferencing. It is this simple: Companies, just because they are dominant platforms, shouldn't be able to put their own stuff in front of everyone else that advertises on our platform. They shouldn't be able to steal ideas and data and develop products off the people who are simply trying to advertise their products on the platform and develop knockoffs, which is exactly what we know, from some really good reporting from the Wall Street Journal and others, has been happening. And they shouldn't be able to, because they are dominant platforms, tell people who advertise: Hey, if you want to get your stuff near the top of the search engine, then you are going to have to buy a whole bunch of things from us. That is what reunites us on this bill, the simple concept of competition. I turn it over to my friend, my neighbor from the State of Iowa, Senator Grassley.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I thank Senator Grassley for his leadership in working with colleagues, and I am glad he mentioned Representatives Cicilline and Buck. They are quite the bipartisan duo. But, then, we worked with them to make some changes to this legislation in order to bring it to our colleagues, and we are very proud of the work we have done. We think it is going to make a big, big difference. With that, I will turn it over to Senator Hirono.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 10 minutes on the matter at hand.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I come to the floor to speak in support of what is right before us right now, and that is, proceeding to debate 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 Leader Schumer. That would be Senators Manchin, Merkley, Padilla, King, Kaine, Tester, and Warnock. We all have our names on this bill. We all feel very strongly about this bill. Why? Because the freedom to vote is fundamental to all of our freedoms, and it is currently under attack. Since the 2020 elections, we have seen a persistent and coordinated assault on the freedom to vote, but it has been under attack for much longer, as States have closed polling locations on a massive scale and purged hundreds of thousands of voters from the rolls. As foreign adversaries have actually attempted to interfere in our elections, 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 voter rolls in Illinois or Hawaii, are we going to expect those States to respond on their own? When you have an assault, a coordinated assault, on voting rights, so you have similar bills introduced across the country to limit drop-off 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. 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--over 30 of those have been signed into law--with redistricting underway 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 4 months in Texas--we must act now. It has been over 9 months since that violent mob of insurrectionists stormed into this Chamber, opened up people's desks, and sat where the Presiding Officer is sitting right now. They desecrated our Capitol, the temple of our democracy. This was not just an attack on a building. It was an attack on our Republic. It was an attack on public servants, police officers who were serving us that day. As I said from the inaugural stage just 2 weeks later under that beautiful blue sky at the very place where you could still see the spray paint on the columns, where we stood in front of makeshift windows--where we stood together, leaders of both political parties in both Chambers and from across the Nation--I said: This is the day our democracy picks itself up, brushes itself off, and does what America always does--goes forward as one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We took back our democracy that day. With this Freedom to Vote Act, which includes provisions that have the support of 78 percent of Americans who favor 2 weeks of early voting and 83 percent of voters who support public disclosure of campaign contributions because they believe the people should be running the government, not lobbyists and not outside groups, we will take it back again from those who are trying to take away the 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 be threatened. Whether it be threatened with bear spray, crowbars, axes, or whether it be threatened with long lines, no ballot drop-off boxes, and secret money, we must stand up for our democracy whether we are Democrats or Republicans or Independents. That is what our country is about. When we are faced with a coordinated effort across our country to limit the freedom to vote, we must stand up and do what is right. But, as we have seen in States like Georgia and Florida and Iowa and Montana and last month in Texas, we are up against a coordinated attack. As Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock has said, it is really quite simple: Some people don't want some people to vote. That is what this is about. What is this Freedom to Vote Act about? It is about minimum standards for voting. You know, it is 15 days of early voting. My State votes up to 40 days. That is not what we put in this bill. We put minimum standards in this bill, ensuring voters have access to at least 2 weeks of early voting so they can cast their mail-in ballot without an excuse--something people were able to use as a way to safely vote in the middle of a public health crisis. They did it in record numbers in the middle of a crisis because they believed in our democracy no matter which way they voted. Why would we take away that right from them now when we are seeing a curtailing of that right in many States across this country? It counters partisan interference in election administrations, makes sure that these super PACs and issue advocacy groups that hide behind veils have to show who is giving them the money, and prohibits partisan gerrymandering. Then we listened to secretaries of state across this country, Democrats and Republicans. We listened to our colleague Senator Manchin, who proudly has his name on this bill. So what did we do? We made changes to this bill. It provides flexibility for small and vote- by-mail jurisdictions on early voting. It makes it easier to implement automatic voter 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. It is important to recognize that the Freedom to Vote Act is the first piece of voting rights legislation this Congress 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. OK. Then don't be scared. Don't hide behind your desks. 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 are 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 is going on in places like Georgia, where voters are now being asked to put their birth date on the outside of the inside envelope. Maybe you don't want to have the stories told about how voters in Wisconsin almost--except for the Governor stopping it in its tracks, voters in Wisconsin almost were limited in the entire city of Milwaukee to one drop-off box. That bill passed their legislature. That is what we are 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 on ways to improve this legislation and 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 homemade masks and garbage bags in a rainstorm just to exercise their right to vote. It is going to be people who are told, like they just were in Georgia: You can't even vote on weekends in the runoff period. It is going to be people who served in our military who have to wait in line in the hot Sun, wait for hours to vote. That didn't 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 have done so on the battlefield, and they did so in marches during the civil rights movement. Fifty-six 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 have seen for ourselves in this very building that we can't afford to take that for granted. We can't do it when legislators and Members of Congress get to pick and choose who is going to 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 is what a democracy is about. I urge my colleagues to open up the debate, to not be afraid and 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. I yield the floor.

Mrs. KLOBUCHAR

Mrs. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I rise today to congratulate Bernard A. ``Bud'' Barton, Jr. on his retirement from the Library of Congress and to thank him for nearly three decades of dedicated public service. Since 2015, Bud has served as chief information officer for the Library of Congress. As the senior information technology official for the Library, Bud established and enforced standards for IT resources and oversaw IT design, development, and service operations to ensure that the needs of the Library and those it serves were met. Bud oversaw the development of a Library-wide digital strategy, worked to improve IT security at the Library, and led efforts to optimize and modernize the Library's IT infrastructure. Under his leadership, the Library successfully addressed more than 100 technology recommendations identified by Congress and the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office, GAO. Prior to joining the Library, Bud served as a U.S. Air Force officer, as deputy chief information officer for the North Carolina National Guard, and then as chief information officer for the Defense Technical Information Center. In these latter roles, Bud managed the design, planning, implementation, and testing of disaster recovery and continuity of operations capabilities for these agencies. Mr. Barton leaves the Library a stronger institution that is better prepared than ever to serve the needs of Congress, researchers, and all Americans. Bud, thank you for your public service. We owe you a debt of gratitude and wish you a well-deserved retirement.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that Senators Merkley, Kaine, and I be able to complete our remarks prior to the vote.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, we are all gathered here today, the group of us, to make a real case for passing the Build Back Better agenda and what it really means to people back in our home States, as Senator Whitehouse was just explaining about Rhode Island. We get a lot in the minutia here for good reason. We are fighting a lot of forces. But in the end, what I know about this agenda, from the infrastructure in the bipartisan infrastructure bill to the work we are doing as part of this people-first agenda, it is about putting the people of this country first over the pharmaceutical companies, over polluters. As I see those fires rage in my State, I know we have to do something about it. As I see people coming to me after years and years and years about the costs of common drugs--Lyrica. You see it advertised on TV all the time. What you might not know is that it has gone up 50 percent in just the last 5 years. What I do know is that the people of this country overwhelmingly-- Democrats, Republicans, and Independents--support bringing costs down for families, support a big middle-class tax cut, and support doing something about pharmaceutical prices. Chief among the reforms in this bill when it comes to healthcare will be allowing Medicare to negotiate directly for less expensive drugs for our seniors. I think 46 million seniors should be able to get a pretty good deal, and I know they could if someone let them do it. Right now, in law, because the pharmaceutical companies lobbied to get it done, they got a ban--a ban--on Medicare negotiating better prices for our seniors. This doesn't just help our seniors, to lift this ban; it helps everyone in America because this is the single biggest purchaser of drugs, our seniors, because they need help in their later years. They have health issues. The stories I have heard in my State--people like Claire from St. Paul. When the cost of the prescription drugs she relied on to manage her arthritis jumped from 60 bucks per month to 1,400 bucks per month, she knew she could no longer afford it. She tried over-the-counter options. Her arthritis advanced. She could barely hold a fork and a knife. I met a woman who was literally holding the drops of her insulin from day to day to day so she could save it for the next day. That is how we are treating seniors in our country? Let's unleash the power of 46 million seniors, get better prices for the drugs, push this Build Back Better agenda, which puts people first, and bring down the cost of prescription drugs. Thank you, Madam President. I yield the floor to my friend from Oregon.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, as we await the vote this afternoon, I hope we will resolve a number of things today so that we make sure we stand by the full faith and credit of the United States and not let regular people's interest rates go up, the economy go to tatters, and our credit rating be downgraded. I hope we can get this done. At the same time, just as Americans have gone through this pandemic-- just as those moms and dads have been at home, with their toddlers on their knees and laptops on their desks; just as they have been teaching their first graders how to use a mute button; and just as so many people have lost their jobs or risked their lives while working on the frontline--they are ready to get through this. They see the light at the end of the tunnel or, as we say in Duluth, MN, the lighthouse on the horizon. They see this just as we continue to work, as best we can, with a number of our colleagues we disagree with because we think we should just simply move through this and make sure we are standing by the full faith and credit of the United States and not let our debt ceiling lapse. As we do that, we are looking to the future just as America is. Just as we are starting to see those jobs come back, they are going back to work; they are starting to see their families again; they are going to family reunions; they are starting to be able to go to weddings again. As all of this is happening--as we get the vaccine out there and as we bring people back together--we also have to plan for that future just like families do every day. That is what this is about, the Build Back Better agenda. That is what this is about--putting people in front of so many people who, honestly, have done pretty well during this time. There are a whole bunch of billionaires who didn't even have to pay taxes while these families have been struggling through the pandemic. There are a whole bunch of people for whom it is easier to go and get prescription drugs or do whatever they want while other people are having to choose between filling their refrigerators with food or filling their prescriptions at the pharmacy. So you got a tour in the last half hour from Maryland to Wisconsin, the State of my neighboring friend Tammy Baldwin; to Rhode Island; to the great State of Oregon on the west coast; to my home State of Minnesota; to close by Senator Kaine's State of Virginia. What we are seeing, while our States may be very different, and what we are hearing are the same things: Regular people want to bring costs down. That is what this bill is about--bringing costs down for families in America-- and there are many ways we are going to do this. One is with straightforward tax cuts for people. Another is with making it easier to afford things. It is that simple. That is what I like most about it in my State. They want to make it easier to get childcare. They want to make it easier to get healthcare. They want to make it easier for their parents at the moment when they go to assisted living or they need to get someone in to help them, just like my dad, whom we lost this year. He got that long-term care insurance. I don't know why he did it, but he did. I knew the day that his money ran out, and he was going to go on Medicaid because that was there for his safety net. So many families in America know exactly what I am talking about, and what this bill does is build on the safety net we have in place. So let's remember that. Putting our kids first, our seniors first, our families first, our healthcare first--that is what this is about. We look forward, over the next few weeks, to getting this bill done and getting it agreed to. To me, it is not always about what those top numbers are and everything you hear on the news; it is for what it is going to mean to the families in my State. I yield the floor.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, suspending the debt ceiling is not about generating new spending. It is about making sure the government can pay for our spending. Since 1960, Congress has done this. It has raised the debt ceiling approximately 80 times. It is not unusual; it is not uncommon; it is not unacceptable. What is unacceptable is that our colleagues won't even allow us to do it. The 50 of us are united in this, and I say: Where are our Republican colleagues? They know the fact: A default will impact everyone. The government will need to decide between sending out Social Security checks, ensuring we keep our promises to our vets, and paychecks to active military. It is disastrous for our economy and small business. This year, Neil Bradley of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said that failing to act responsibly and provide an increase in the debt limit would endanger our economy. It would cause global markets, of course, to lose confidence in the full faith and credit of the United States. The stakes are high. This should not be about scoring political points. Our families, our workers, our seniors deserve better. Democrats are united to stand by their side. And we say to our Republican colleagues: Where are you?

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I come to the floor to speak in support of very important new legislation, the Freedom to Vote Act, that I introduced yesterday with the members of the Voting Rights Working Group assembled by Leader Schumer, which includes Senator Manchin; Senator Merkley, who is here with us today on the floor and who has been such a leader on voting issues, including the For the People Act; Senator Padilla; and Senators King, Kaine, Tester, and Warnock. The freedom to vote is fundamental to all of our freedoms. Following the 2020 elections in which more Americans voted than ever before, in the middle of a public health crisis, we have seen unprecedented attacks on our democracy in States across the country. These attacks demand an immediate Federal response. The Freedom to Vote Act will set basic national standards to make sure all Americans can cast their ballots in the way that works best for them, regardless of what ZIP Code they live in. I want to thank Senator Schumer for his leadership in pulling together our working group that got this legislation across the finish line and, as I mentioned, Senators Merkley and Manchin for their work on this crucial bill. It has been over 8 months since that violent mob of insurrectionists stormed through this very spot and desecrated our Capitol, the temple of our democracy. They opened the desks in this Chamber. They got up and sat at that desk where you are sitting now, Mr. President. It was an attack on our Republic. And as I said from the inaugural stage just 2 weeks later under that beautiful blue sky, at the very place where you could still see the spray paint at the bottom of the columns and the makeshift windows behind us, ``This is the day our democracy picks itself up, brushes off the dust, and does what America always does: goes forward as a nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.'' We took back our democracy that day with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents all sitting at that platform, seeing a new President and Vice President be inaugurated. We took back our democracy that day, and we will take it back this day with this new bill, with the support of 78 percent of Americans who favor 2 weeks of early voting, a very important provision in this bill, and 83 percent of voters who support public disclosures of all contributions. We will take it back again from those who are trying to take away people's constitutional right to vote. With over 400 bills introduced in nearly every State to limit the freedom to vote, we can't simply sit back and watch our democracy be threatened again. Whether it is threatened with bear spray and crowbars and axes or long lines or the elimination of ballot boxes or the secret money, it is still under siege. When we are faced with a coordinated effort across the country to limit the freedom to vote, we must stand up and do what is right. Sometimes people say: What is going on? It worked so well during the pandemic, during a public health crisis. More people voted than ever before. Well, that is because they voted by mail. That is because some States, both blue States and red States, changed their laws to make it easier to vote, while still protecting the sanctity of the vote. So why is this happening? Well, I think our colleague Senator Rev. Raphael Warnock put it best when he said: ``Some people don't want some people to vote.'' We will not stand for that because that is not how a democracy works. Leader Schumer has said he will bring this new bill to a vote as soon as next week because we know our democracy cannot wait. This bill builds on the framework put forward by Senator Manchin in June and includes many of the key reforms in the For the People Act, guaranteeing all Americans, as I noted, access to at least 15 days of early voting, including weekends. Look at what just happened in Georgia. We just had a field hearing down there with the Rules Committee. In Georgia, all of a sudden they passed a law that says, yeah, you can vote on weekends early on, but when it counts in a runoff period, in those last 28 days, you can't vote on weekends anymore. That is only done for one reason: to make it harder for people to vote. That is why this bill is so important. What else does it do? It ensures that all voters can cast a mail-in ballot and makes it easier to register to vote. That is pretty important as we see Republican, Democrat, and Independent voters all across this country wanting to be able to cast mail-in ballots. It is the safest way for so many of them to vote, even today. Some States even required them to get a notary signature in the middle of a pandemic, through a glass window, when they were in the hospital. You wonder why we want to have some Federal minimum standards in place. What else? Increased transparency through the DISCLOSE Act. I already noted that over 80 percent of people in this country want to see that, whether they are Democrats, Republicans, or Independents. It would require super-PACs and issue advocacy groups to disclose donors who contribute more than $10,000 and stop the use of transfers between organizations to cloak the identity, to hide the identity of the source of those contributions. It would counter partisan interference in election administration and protect election officials because not only do we need to make sure people can vote, we need to make sure their vote is counted. It would prevent voter purges by requiring States to use objective and reliable evidence to remove voters and prohibit the targeting of voters solely because they haven't voted recently, while giving election administrators flexibility to remove voters based on State records. As Stacey Abrams has said, if you don't go to a meeting for a while, do you lose your right to assemble? No, you don't. If you don't go to a church or a synagogue or a mosque for a while, do you lose your right to exercise your right to religion? No, you don't. You shouldn't lose your right to vote. It would also prohibit partisan gerrymandering, this bill will, so that voters choose their elected officials, not the other way around. Now, my home State of Minnesota is a great example of how this can all work. When you make it easier for people to vote, they will vote. I never see this as a partisan issue. In election after election, our State leads the Nation in voter turnout because we have things like, now, no-excuse voting by mail or 46 days of early voting. Our bill doesn't go that far because we are setting minimum standards, but that is what we have in our State--and same-day voter registration. And what has happened as a result? High voter turnout every time. Whom have we elected? Well, we have elected Democratic Governors like our Governor, Tim Walz; we have elected Republican Governors like Tim Pawlenty; and we have elected Independents like Jesse Ventura. But what have I noticed? People feel like they are part of the democracy because we make it easier for them to vote. These policies that ensure Minnesotans continue to hold the coveted title of first in voter turnout--very close to the Presiding Officer's State of Colorado--are overseen by our secretary of state, Steve Simon, who continues to push for improvements in our elections. The freedom to vote is fundamental to all our freedoms. Protecting it has not always been easy. Throughout our country's 245-year history, we have had to course correct and take action to ensure that our democracy for the people, by the people actually lives up to its ideals. Voting is how Americans control their government and hold elected officials accountable. It was the founding principle of our country, and it has stood the test of wars, economic strife, and a global pandemic. But as we have seen in States like Georgia, Florida, Iowa, Montana, and most recently Texas, we are up against a coordinated attack aimed at limiting the freedom to vote. This demands a Federal response. And the Constitution could not be clearer. It says right there that Congress can make or alter laws regarding Federal elections. Just last week, legislation in Texas was signed into law that makes it harder to vote, and many States already are underway drawing new congressional maps. Without this bill, there will be nothing to limit many States from drawing gerrymandered maps that will distort the voices of Americans not just for 1 year but for the next decade. The urgency for a Federal response is why, as chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee, I have worked to ensure that voting rights are a priority. It is why one of our first hearings this year was on the For the People Act and why--and I see Reverend Warnock here--we took the Rules Committee on the road to Georgia in its first field hearing in 20 years. And just last month, Senator Baldwin and I held a roundtable discussion in Wisconsin on what has been happening in that State and what would have been put into law, including only having one ballot dropoff box in the entire city of Milwaukee if the Governor hadn't stood in and vetoed it. And we are not done yet because these discussions with voters are the most pressing testament that the threat to the freedom to vote is very real and affecting people of all walks of life across the country. We can't sit back idly and watch our democracy be threatened. As President Biden said in Philadelphia, the fight to protect the right to vote is the ``test of our time.'' Americans have fought and died to protect this freedom, and 56 years after the Voting Rights Act was passed by this Chamber and signed into law, we are still continuing this fight. We have asked our colleagues from the other side of the aisle to join us on this bill. We have made many, many, many changes to this legislation in response to concerns they have raised, in response to concerns Senator Manchin raised, in response to concerns that secretaries of state have made across the country. We have adapted this bill to make it much easier to implement in rural areas, in small towns. We are proud of this legislation. Yet what do we hear from the other side of the aisle? Well, over the last few months, one of their refrains which I find so amusing is they say this will somehow result in chaos. Truly? Chaos is a 5-hour wait to vote in the Sun in Georgia without food or water. Chaos is purging eligible voters from voter rolls and prohibiting mail-in ballot drop boxes and having only one in the entirety of Harris County in Texas for 5 million people. Chaos is voters in Wisconsin waiting in line to vote for hours in the rain, wearing homemade face masks and plastic garbage bags. That angry mob on January 6 that came right into this Chamber, that was chaos. You want to stop the chaos: Federal minimum voting standards. Telling extremists they can't spend millions on sham audits, that stops the chaos. Getting dark money out of our politics, that stops the chaos. And making sure that people have a voice by ending partisan gerrymandering, that stops the chaos. So, once again, I urge my Republican colleagues to recognize the work being done in many of their own States to restrict the freedom of Americans to exercise their sacred right to vote. Our Nation was founded on the ideals of democracy, and as we have seen for ourselves in this very building, we cannot afford to take it for granted. We have so much work to do. Voting rights reform, this bill, guaranteeing the freedom to vote, is about the salvation of our very democracy. I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting the Freedom to Vote Act. Mr. President, I see my colleagues. Senator Merkley, such a great leader on the For the People bill, and Senator Warnock, such a great leader, new in the Senate but already establishing himself across the country and in Georgia as a leader on voting rights, are both here. I yield the floor.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues: Senator Padilla, with your great experience as secretary of state and how that has assisted us in coming together on this bill; Senator Warnock, with the passion and firsthand experience you have in Georgia; Senator Kaine, for an extraordinary speech, wherein we all had to step back and think about our job description: to protect and defend the Constitution. It is not just ours on this side of the aisle; it is also our colleagues' on the other side of the aisle. We have this special obligation to protect this democracy and to cherish it and to pass it on to the next generation. The way you do that fundamentally is by guaranteeing Americans the freedom to vote. That is all this bill is about--putting in place minimum national standards that we see in so many of our States but that, sadly, right now, are threatened in a number of those States for no other reason except--to quote Reverend Warnock--that some people don't want some people to vote. Our democracy is too important to let that happen. With that, we are going to end our segment here, and we will be back to discuss this bill more next week.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, and that the motions to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table with no intervening action or debate.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 365, submitted earlier today.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to legislative session and be in a period of morning business, with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. In order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I would object to further proceeding.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I understand that there is a bill at the desk that is due for a second reading.

Mrs. KLOBUCHAR

Mrs. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I have 6 requests for committees to meet during today's session of the Senate. They have the approval of the Majority and Minority leaders. Pursuant to rule XXVI, paragraph 5(a), of the Standing Rules of the Senate, the following committees are authorized to meet during today's session of the Senate: Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry The Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 15, 2021, at 9:30 a.m., to conduct a hearing. Committee on Environment and Public Works The Committee on Environment and Public Works is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 15, 2021, at 9:30 a.m., to conduct a hearing on nominations. Committee on Foreign Relations The Committee on Foreign Relations is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 15, 2021, at 10:30 a.m., to conduct a hearing on nominations. Committee on Foreign Relations The Committee on Foreign Relations is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 15, 2021, at 2:30 p.m., to conduct a hearing on nominations. Committee on the Judiciary The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 15, 2021, at 9:45 a.m., to conduct a hearing on nominations. Committee on the Judiciary The Committee on the Judiciary is authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, September 15, 2021, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing on nominations.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10:15 a.m., Thursday, September 16, for a pro forma session with no business conducted; further, that when the Senate adjourns on Thursday, it stand adjourned until 3 p.m. on Monday, September 20, 2021; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day, and morning business be closed; and that upon the conclusion of morning business, the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the Strickland nomination.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it stand adjourned under the previous order, following the remarks of Senators Grassley, Ernst, and Cornyn.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, I call up my amendment No. 3731 and ask that it be reported by number.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Madam President, this amendment, which I am introducing with Senators Booker, Warnock, and Schatz, would allow the Budget Committee to reallocate funding for the Capitol Police; Washington, DC; and Metropolitan Police and all first responders who defended the Capitol on January 6. The insurrection at the Capitol was more than an assault on democracy; it was an actual life-or-death situation for the many brave law enforcement officers who show up here to work every single day. Last week, we unanimously passed legislation, which Senator Blunt and I led, to award the Congressional Gold Medal to honor these officers. I was proud to stand with President Biden when he signed it into law. This amendment shows our continued commitment to remembering the heroism and the sacrifice of the first responders who risk their lives to protect this Capitol. Before I came to the Senate, I saw firsthand the vital role that law enforcement officers play in keeping our citizens safe. That is why I am not surprised by the last vote and the nature of the last vote. I thank Senator Booker for his response to Senator Tuberville's amendment. We also must ensure that the officers in this place have the resources they need to do their jobs.

Ms. KLOBUCHAR. And we took an important path forward in passing the funding for the police. I want to thank my colleagues who join me in introducing this amendment. I ask all my colleagues to join us in voting for it. Vote on Amendment No. 3731 I ask for the yeas and nays.