Texas

Floor Speech

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Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, the Republican leader was here a few moments ago discussing an issue which I think has gotten a lot of play here lately, and that is this attempt by Democrat members of the Texas Legislature to come to Washington, DC, to protest legislation that is being moved through the legislature in the State of Texas. In fact, this is the cover of one of yesterday's newspapers--or I should say today's newspapers.

It has a photo there of all the Democrat legislators from Texas meeting with the Democrat leadership here in the U.S. Senate. Allegedly, they are here, playing hooky from their jobs in Texas, having flown in, I am told, on private jets--so much for doing something about the climate--to protest the fact that in Texas their voices are not being heard and not being given input into the legislative process there.

I point that out simply because it is really incredibly ironic. I mean, it is rich with irony. Sometimes, around here, you just say you can't make this stuff up. They are here in Washington, DC, away from Texas, which is where their jobs are, to protest the fact that their views and voice are not being heard in Texas and that the majority in Texas is running roughshod over the minority and their rights.

The same Democrats, I would add, here in Washington, DC, are trying to get rid of the legislative filibuster in the U.S. Senate, the very mechanism that historically has protected the rights of the minority and given them a voice in the legislative process, the very thing that has been used historically in a way that ensures that the Senate has to come together behind big solutions, collaborate, find that common ground, find that compromise. The Democrats here in Washington and these Democrats from Texas are all in favor of getting rid of the legislative filibuster.

Think about that. It is really pretty remarkable that they would come up here to protest what is happening in Texas at a time when they support getting rid of the very protections that give the minority here in the U.S. Senate a voice in that legislative process.

And the other really remarkable irony about this is the issue that they are here to speak in support of S. 1, the bill that would federalize, that would nationalize elections in this country and take power away from States when it comes to regulating and administering elections, a power that has been held by States going back to the Founders.

And so they came here basically to say you need to pass H.R. 1. Well, again, what is H.R. 1? H.R. 1 is this massive Federal takeover of elections in this country, and it is also the test case for why we have got to get rid of the legislative filibuster.

I would be willing to bet that the Democrat leader at some point in the next couple of weeks is going to call up S. 1 again. We voted on it once already, but he is going to call it up again because he thinks it is good politics, and, plus, he wants to pressure his Members to do away with the legislative filibuster in order to pass S. 1 with 51 votes.

So, again, the irony of all of this, honestly, is some stuff you just flat can't make up. But I would reiterate what I have said before about S. 1: It is a solution in search of a problem. We have States around this country who are, in some cases moving to put in place election integrity measures, measures that will ensure that every vote counts and that everybody has an opportunity to vote but that people don't have an opportunity to cheat.

That is all it is about. It is about election integrity. And most of the measures that are being adopted in States around this country are simply that--nothing more, nothing less--and, again, historically consistent with the way that our election process has been governed in this country, and that is to allow States to make those to do things in a decentralized way, to not consolidate power in Washington, DC, but rather to distribute that power and make it that much harder to hack into it.

I mean, you think about it, you have 50 election systems in this country. It was what the Founders intended. They wanted to distribute power. They wanted to have a decentralized system, not one that was driven and controlled by a bureaucracy here in Washington, DC. I think that is consistent with what the American people believe ought to happen and the cases it should be when it comes to elections in this country.

So it really is interesting to see these Democrat legislators from Texas coming to Washington, coming all the way up here--again, playing hooky from their jobs in Texas--to protest a piece of legislation that is being used by the Democrat leadership to try and get rid of the legislative filibuster, the very mechanism that protects the rights and the voice of the minority in the U.S. Senate. It has, literally, since our country's founding

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