We have been traveling the country a bit just getting data and information about voting irregularities, voter suppression, et cetera.

What have we done to the citizens of this Nation, people that we have made a promise to?

It doesn't make it right. Separate but equal was the law of the land. It wasn't right, but Brown v. Board of Education changed it.

Laws are sometimes made by very flawed people who are doing things in their own self-interest.

The Constitution does not say if you miss a vote, we are not going to let you vote anymore.

I lived at a time when people that looked like me could not vote.

What he said was: You give us new data so that Congress can come up with a new formula.

What makes us a great country is our ability to repair our faults.

What we are doing across this country is deciding how we create the record that satisfies the decision in Shelby and gives the data appropriately to the Congress of the United States.

If citizenship is really the measure, then I wonder whether, in fact, we should have ever taken the rights of prisoners away.

You can be on the correct side of history and support reforms that strengthen our democracy, or you can be on the side of the status quo and turn a blind eye to voter suppression tactics such as poll taxes, switching or eliminating polling…

If we call ourselves a democracy, we need to act like it. We need to ensure that every single person has a right to vote and that their vote is counted.

So the ballot design that we must put in place is so important, Madam Chairwoman, and I just wanted that to be in the record.

As certain States and localities, including here in Florida, continue to try to suppress the votes of some communities and rig the rules to make voting more difficult for some people, Congress must step up to ensure that voting remains a…

The Department of Labor owes it to the workers of America to fully implement current rules and regulations.

But as I look at the President's budget and what you all have proposed, you are cutting discretionary funding by $1.2 billion for the Department of Labor.

The budget is an indication of what you believe is important. So if you are cutting work force development, you do not think work force development is important.

It is rare that I actually agree with our Ranking Member, but today I do.

Workers across this country are demanding a higher standard of care. They deserve peace of mind when planning for their retirement.

We need young people to have an opportunity, especially children who are homeless, children who are in difficult situations. You want to protect kids? Then help them. Do not cut their budgets.

Just for somebody watching from not in this room, so we won't be confused, we are not talking about a choice bill here today.

I do believe that 65 years after Brown, that a quality education, one that is equitable, is still the civil rights issue of our time.

We can't just say we are for it and yet we won't go to that diverse school, we won't go to that school in that quote unquote neighborhood.

I promise you it was not the law that had her dismiss 1,200 civil rights actions that she didn't even read.

this is not just a political exercise; this is the real deal, and it is creating the official record that will be used to legislate on voting rights in the United States Congress.