President-Elect Biden

Floor Speech

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Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, if you follow the U.S. Senate, which, of course, many of us do, there was a noteworthy moment this morning. It was actually a prayer by our Chaplain, Barry Black. In that prayer, he acknowledged and called for the blessings of God on the President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris.

The reason that was noteworthy is that has been a contested issue among politicians on Capitol Hill for weeks as to whether or not Joe Biden could be described as President-elect. Many have stepped forward and said yes, but many resisted. The acknowledgement by the Chaplain caught me a little by surprise this morning. And I came to the floor to hear the Republican leader, Senator McConnell, go through an accounting of the Trump Presidency and all of his achievements and then concluded by acknowledging as well that we have a President-elect in Joe Biden. I believe that that reflected the reality of the November 3 election and the finality of the electoral college decisions being made across the Nation in so many States.

I thank those who have stepped forward to acknowledge the reality of a new President and hope that they will join me in an effort to do our best to make certain that his tenure is a success, not just for him personally and the Vice President but for our Nation. We deserve nothing less.

It is a long story, these last few weeks since November 3 and what has happened across America. I don't think anyone could have predicted that we would see the divisive reaction that we have seen, nor could anyone have predicted what happened yesterday. Some States had to take extraordinary measures to protect electoral college electors--what used to be a routine, somewhat tedious and boring mission. It resulted in the closing of legislative buildings in Michigan to the public and, according to press reports, credible threats of violence. In Arizona, electors met in an undisclosed location to safely cast their votes. These measures followed a last-ditch effort by 17 Republican attorneys general and more than half of the House Republican caucus joining in a lawsuit and accompanying an amicus brief before the Supreme Court, which incredibly argued that the Court should nullify the votes of more than 20 million Americans. These ludicrous arguments couldn't hide the true justification for joining this effort to undermine our democracy. The people who were protesting simply don't like the results of the 2020 election, and they don't want to turn their backs on President Trump.

The conservative-leaning Supreme Court summarily dismissed this effort outright, rejecting the lawsuit in an order on Friday evening, wasting no time in doing it. Despite repeated and forceful judicial rejections of their baseless allegations of fraud at attempts to nullify the votes of Americans, only 27 Congressional Republicans would publicly acknowledge the obvious President-elect of the United States, Joe Biden, as of last week.

Now that the electoral college has spoken, more Congressional Republicans are finally stepping up. The fact that it took 6 weeks for my colleagues to recognize reality and stop undermining our Democratic process is sad and disappointing. When we were sworn in as Members of Congress, we took a simple oath: support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. It is not an oath to one person, nor one President; it is not conditional if one receives enough angry phone calls; it is not dependent on whether the responsibilities are difficult; and it is certainly not optional if one has to face a more challenging electorate. And yet, with the exception of only a few in this Senate Chamber, the silence in upholding this oath in the face of President Trump's blatant attempts to undermine our democracy has been overwhelming.

Just compare it to the courage shown by State and local election officials across the United States, including many Republicans, who always hasten to add that they had voted for President Trump; they were disappointed in the election of Joe Biden; but the election in their State, by their measure, was honest and fair. They don't enjoy the perks or protections we have here in Congress, but they stepped up and spoke up, and I respect them for it--proud Americans of both parties under personal threat for their integrity and defending an American election that the President of the United States wants overturned.

Senator Murphy, the junior Senator from Connecticut, came to the floor on Friday and spoke eloquently about this threat to American democracy that has been playing out in plain sight--the blatant and shameful attempt to use the power of the Presidency to overturn a free and fair election, an election which is the foundation of our democracy. Senator Murphy reminded us about the fragility of our democracy and how it should never ever be taken for granted. He warned about collaborating in silence as these efforts are made to destroy it. ``How Democracies Die.'' The poignant remarks and the outrageous actions of recent weeks reminded me of a dinner I hosted with the authors of a powerful book, ``How Democracies Die.'' The authors, Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, detail examples in which democracies are weakened, collapsed, and even destroyed. I recommend it as urgent reading to my colleagues in the Senate at this moment in our history. They highlighted the critical role of established political leaders in standing up, or failing to stand up, in key moments when events or persons threaten their democracies.

Venezuela, in the early 1990s--the key establishment party leader opportunistically sided with Hugo Chavez after a coup attempt, devastatingly, giving Chavez critical legitimacy he then used to gain power and bring his country to its current state of decline. I believe we have such a moment here that demands leaders of both parties to carry out their oaths of office and defend our treasured democracy. Quite simply, silence is unacceptable.

I am glad for what Senator McConnell said this morning on the floor of the Senate. Perhaps Chaplain Black inspired him and will inspire others to step up and speak the truth.

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