Desk. Every single senator in the Democratic Congress and in our caucus here in the senate is cosponsoring the for the people act. Senator merkley, senator merkley and my companion bill the h. R. 1, for the people act, but it is very deep in the leaders legislative graveyard. Over the course of the last year, as the for the people act has languished, tens of millions of dollars were spent, much of it in secret, to influence the policymaking process. Almost half a dozen states passed new laws restricting voter rights. The u. S. Supreme court gave the green light to political gerrymandering, and President Trump has with his own properties dozens of times funneled millions of taxpayer dollars into his own pocket. Yet, the Republican Senate is silent, sigh length as silent as our democracy faces a crisis like none we have ever seen in our lifetimes. We can draw a Straight Line from the crisis in our democracy to more than 300 bipartisan bills buried in the majority leaders graveyard. The bills waiting for Senate Action are broadly supported by the American People, but they are opposed by the ultrawealthy, the special interests, the powerful corporations, and that they try to buy our elections. Like senator mcconnell, these bigmoney interests are proud of killing these bills. Here is what happened over the year that the for the people act has been in the majority leaders graveyard. The number of Americans Without Health Insurance increased by hundreds of thousands. California wildfires worsened by Climate Change cost 25 billion. Flooding in the midwest, also a casualty of Climate Change, cost 12. 5 billion. And 22 people were gunned down at an El Paso Walmart by a White Nationalist armed with an assault rifle. Sadly, that was just a fraction of the thousands of gunrelated deaths in our country last year. This is not the america that the American People want. The American People want us to act. The gap between what the American People are clamoring for and what the republican majority in the senate is giving them is as wide as the grand canyon and is growing by the day. Just look at the polls. Staggering numbers closing in on 90 of americans support universal Affordable Health care. With these numbers, you would think republicans would be making sure that every american has health care, but instead republicans have tried to dismantle the Affordable Care act every chance they get. As we speak, President Trump and 18 republican governors and attorneys general are urging the Supreme Court to strike down the Affordable Care act. The American People want the American People want exorbitant Prescription Drug prices reeled in. 80 of americans think the cost of Prescription Drugs are far too high, and we all know that big pharma is the reason why. Yet legislation to reduce drug costs is also is also stuck, stuck among the hundreds of other bills on the majority leaders desk. Over the last twoplus decades, big pharma has spent 3. 7 billion yes, thats billion on lobbying. And so today, the same vile of vial of insulin that cost cost 125 now costs over 1,000 today. As a result, some diabetics ration their insulin. Some as a result have died. Its not just our health care. The ability of our planet to support human life as we know it is at stake. Time and again polling tells us that the American People want us to tackle Climate Change. They understand the existential threat. Yet dozens of Climate Change bills lie ahead in the senate, including my renewable electricity standard bill to move us to 100 clean energy by midcentury. Nearly 70 of americans, including a majority of republicans, believe we need to take aggressive action to fight Climate Change. And almost 80 believe the government should invest more in Renewable Energy resources. With these kinds of numbers, youd think congress would be passing Climate Change legislation on a regular basis, except youd be wrong. Why . Well, an expert analysis found that from 2000 to 2016, 2 billion was spent on lobbying regarding climate policy, and the fossil fuel interests outspent environmental Public Interest groups bay factor of 10 to one. This is not democracy at work. That is complete perversion of our democratic ideals. But the good news is we can change all of this. We can reinvigorate our democracy, we can end the rein of big dorps, make it easier to vote, stop political gerrymandering and bring ethical conduct to washington. The majority leader just needs to stop doing the bidding of the wealthy special interests and bring the for the people act to the senate floor. And i know my colleague, senator merkley, is here, and senator bennet, and senator whitehouse, and senator cardin. And i yield to senator cardin. Thank you all for being here today. Mr. Cardin madam president . The presiding officer the senator from maryland. Mr. Cardin thank you, madam president. I want to thank senator udall for his leadership on the for the people act. I want to thank senator merkley for his leadership on this bill. This bill contains many provisions that deal with the fundamental values of this country. I also am proud of my colleague in the house of representatives, congressman sarbanes, who is the lead sponsor of h. R. 1, which is the we the people act, which passed the house of representatives a year ago and no action on the floor of the senate as a result of the majority leaders decision not to bring these bills to the floor. As i said, it includes a lot of different bills but all deal with americas values. These are the values that are the strength of this nation free and Fair Elections. Thats what we promote globally because we know that is key to a stable democratic society, and yet when you look at the way that we conduct elections in this country, were not setting a very high example. Look at how much money is involved in elections in this country, from the president to our local offices, too much money speaks to whos going to be able to get the attention of the voters. We need to change that. We know that suppression of voters has been institutionalized as a strategy to win office. That should have no place in america. We should want the maximum amount of voters to participate in our political process, not trying to prevent people from exercising their right to vote. For the people act brings about meaningful change so that america that is the shining example of democracy can lead the world by the way we conduct our over elections. Let me just mention two provisions that im particularly pleased that are included in for the people act. One is democracy restoration. That is, to allow those who have been convicted of crime after they have served their penalty to be able to participate in elections. Were one of only a few western democracies that permanently disenfranchise an individual whos been convicted of a felony. 6. 1 million adults currently are disenfranchised as a result of that provision, and yet only 22 of those individuals are incarcerated. The other 78 have paid their penalty, have done their time, and are now reintegrated in society. And its in our interest to have them participate in our democratic system. It reduces recidivism and quite frankly it is targeted at people of color. Theyre the most that have been disenfranchised as a result of this provision. 34 states still have restrictions. 12 have lifetime restrictions on those convicted of a felony. The democracy restoration act would remedy that situation. The second bill im going to refer to very briefly is deceptive practices and voter prevention act that target. It is the modern jimcrow laws in which were using modern technology. We have Campaign Strategies aimed at communities to give them disinformation about how they can vote or whether theyre eligible to vote or where they can vote. Thats being used today. Weve got to make sure that doesnt happen in the American Election system. For the people provides meaningful changes so that we dont allow suppression of vote to be an institutionalized strategy to try to win an election, so that we have the maximum participation of voters in our process and deals with the everflowing increased amount of dollars that are put in American Elections. The United States senate should not be a graveyard. The majority leader mcconnell has prevented hundreds of bills, bipartisan bills, from coming to the floor of the United States senate. Its been a year since weve had for the people act passed by the house of representatives. Its well past time for the senate to take up this legislation so that we can show the American People that we support the values that have made america the great democracy in our country. Thank you very much, madam president. I yield the floor. Mr. Whitehouse madam president . The presiding officer the senator from rhode island. Mr. Whitehouse madam president , shakespeares play hamlet began with something is rotten in denmark. Well, something rotten in congress. And what is is rotten in congress is dark money. Citizens united, perhaps one of the most foolish decisions ever rendered by the United StatesSupreme Court, opened unlimited spending into our politics, which benefits who . It benefits those who have Unlimited Money to spend and a motive to spend it in politics. Madam president , that is not a group of people whose voices were not being heard here already. That is the favorite group. But Citizens United opened the doors for them to spend Unlimited Money, and then the Supreme Court failed to police its own decision. Its own decision said that this up limited decision was going to be transparent to the public. We will, theyre 02. Its been a decade and theyve never even tried to enforce these basic predicates of their decision. It is a shameful, shameful effort by the court. And now, as a result, we have throughout our politics, this dark money tsunami of slime. How bad is it . These groups have spent 4. 5 billion since Citizens United 4. 5 billion trying to influence congress. You think they were doing that in the Public Interest . Of course not. You wonder why bills die here in the legislative graveyard of the senate in take a guess. Outside groups, these phony baloney front groups for these big special interests, are now outspending candidates in races. In fact, in the decade after Citizens United, outside groups outspent candidates in 126 dix congressional races 126 additional congress ago races. It is a very small group behind t the top ten donor households gave a combined 1. 1 billion to these front groups. You think they were looking out for the Public Interest . Dream on. Who were the big spenders . National rifle association, americans for prosperity thats the Koch Brothers front group, crossroads, calve roves front group, and the u. S. Chamber of commerce the champions of climate denial and obstruction. You want to know why were not getting things done around here . Its because billions of dollars are being spent secretly by special interests to shut things down. And its creeping now even into the courts. The federalist society, picking our judges, is at the center of a 250 million dark money network. A group that ran the campaigns against garland and for gorsuch and then afterwards for kavanaugh, got an individual 17 million donation for each of those two campaigns. Its actually probably the same donor, which means somebody out there anonymously gave 35 million to determine the makeup of the United StatesSupreme Court, and we dont know who that is . We dont know what business they have before the court . As i said, hamlet requests begins with something is rotten in denmark. The rot is creeping over to the Supreme Court and it is dark money and it is the patriotic and decent thing to do to exster pay the this menace. I yield the floor. Mr. Durbin madam president . The presiding officer the senator from illinois. Mr. Durbin madam president , last year i was proud to stand with my colleagues as we introduced the for the people act in the senate, just week after it passed the house of representatives. This measure has already passed the house of representatives. If you took civics 101, they explained that after the house took action on a measure, it came here. So the obvious question is, what happened to it . Its been a year. It must be in here somewhere. Well, we know exactly where it is. It is in senator mcconnells office. He is the republican leader of the United States senate, and hes made a conscious decision that hundreds of bills just like this one will not even be considered on the floor of the senate. It isnt that he doesnt have a majority. He does. But he doesnt want us to even debate or discuss these bills before the American People. This United States senate once enjoyed the reputation as the worlds most deliberative body, which meant we came here, debated, argued, and voted on things like amendments and bills like this one. Last year in the United States senate, the calendar year 2019, we considered exactly 22 amendments in the entire year. 22 amendments in one year in this senate. Six of them offered by senator paul with a gun to our heads, who said, if you dont give me a vote on my amendment, you cant go home. All six of his amendments were defeated. But that just gives you an example of why theres so little activity and why this floor is so empty so many times. In fact, this floor has become a museum piece, where bystanders and witnesses and spectators can come in, sit in the galleries and look down on the desks that used to be occupied by senators who voted and debate add. We dont do that anymore. Instead, we consider one after the other after the other of judicial nominations. I am a he not going to get into that issue, because its been touched on already. But my contribution to this for the people act goes to the heart of political campaigns. If you dont think american political campaigns are long enough, if youd like us to be on television a few more months each year, hang on tight. Its coming. If you dont think enough money is being spent on american political campaigns, hang on tight because more is coming. And if you want to reach the point where we have no idea where most of the money is coming from that funds these campaigns, hang on. Citizens uniteds decision by the Supreme Court across the street has set the stage for that and thats where were headed in america today. My proposal for Fair Elections now moves in exactly the opposite direction. Shorter campaigns, smaller contributions, more confrontation between candidates over issues than to in this battle of Television Ads that goes on now. My act would create a voluntary smalldonor Public Financing system for Senate Candidates who agree to raise only smalldollar contributions. I know its a dream, but think about what it would do to change american politics. Heres how it would work. Qualified Senate Candidates would receive grants based on their states population. 61 matching grants for contributions that they get of 200 or less. Smaller contributors. And vouchers for purchasing television advertisings and other social media. Once candidates reach the maximum amount of matching funds they receive, they continue to raise an unlimited amount of contributions of 200 or less. A 200 cap on contributions. They can also raise money from smalldonor Political Action committees known as people pacs which allow citizens to make their voices heard by aagree grating just small whys, no big hitters. The Fair Elections fub financing system would elevate the views and interests of a Diverse Group of americans rather than the traditional wealthy class and we would pay for it without spending a dime of taxpayers dollars. Our system would be financed by assessments on wealthy bad actors. The price of victory for a successful house congressional candidate in 2016 averaged by 2 million and 35 Senate Candidates who won in 2018 spent an average of 15. 7 million apiece. if we dont rein in the cost and length ofs campaigns, shame on us. Weve got to reclaim the reputation of this Great Congress and United States senate and it starts with the way we fi