On the recordJanuary 19, 2022
Madam Vice President, I rise today after hearing from my friend Senator Blunt. I remember on January 6, as all of you do that day, when he and I and Vice President Pence and two young women with the mahogany box filled with the last of the ballots--up to Wyoming-- took that long walk through the shattered glass, the spray-painted statues, and we did our jobs. I will be forever grateful for what he did that night and what so many people in this Chamber did. But, for me, it didn't end that night because, sadly, what wasn't accomplished by the people who rifled through these desks and got up on that dais, Madam Vice President; what wasn't accomplished with bear spray; what wasn't accomplished with the bayonets--and I still remember the blood on the officers' faces--sadly has continued on. The votes that we took that night were important, but the votes that the people of this country take in every election are just as important. That is why, when you look at the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, you have to understand what it is grounded in, and that is our belief in our democracy. I want to thank every single Member of the Democratic caucus who has worked so hard to agree on this bill. I will say the voting rights groups, the Rules Committee--and I do differ from Senator Blunt on this. We spent a lot of time making changes to that bill over the year.…
