and colleagues, I am going to talk for just a few minutes about vote-by-mail. I think Senator Klobuchar will probably be joining me. Madam President and colleagues, I am the first U.S. Senator to be elected completely by mail. The second U.S. Senator elected completely by mail was my friend, Republican Gordon Smith, a Senator well known to many here in this body. The country looked up and its first experience, colleagues, with vote-by-mail was thoroughly bipartisan--one Democrat, one Republican, who, as it happened, after running against each other, got along very well and did a lot together. As the country began to get its arms around vote-by-mail, it was bipartisan and the bipartisan efforts to build on it really took off. They took off all across the country until President Donald Trump got elected and began to spew all these lies about vote-by-mail. So then something that was completely bipartisan suddenly became very partisan. What I want to do is rebuild that bipartisanship. My colleagues seem to say that is what they want. And the fact is, vote-by-mail is the gold standard for casting an informed vote, particularly for working people, seniors, and others, who would like the time, the opportunity in their living rooms and their kitchens, to look at the ballot and consider the various alternatives.…
On the recordJanuary 19, 2022
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