Coronavirus
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, the first thing I want to do is comment on the discussions we just had.
I have been up here a little less than 2 years, and the thing that surprises me is, invariably, the Democrats won't stand up against the Communist Party in China.
The case that we are dealing with now is they are going to stand up for Hollywood rather than rights, rights that we have here that I am going to talk about in a second.
We ought to be standing up against Communist China stealing our jobs, our technology. We ought to be attacking the Communist Party for what they have done to Uighurs, for organ harvesting, for taking away the basic rights of Hong Kong citizens.
Invariably, I watch my Democratic colleagues; they won't stand up against Communist China. I don't understand it. This is a party that clearly wants to dominate our society, our way of life. They completely disagree with our way of life.
I want to thank Senator Ted Cruz for his continued fight for rights, for all the rights that we have in this country but fighting for those rights so people, whether in Hong Kong or in Communist China or in Taiwan, have the same freedoms that we have.
So I want to thank Senator Ted Cruz for showing up today and doing this.
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Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, today what I want to talk about is religious freedom. Religious liberty is our first freedom under the Constitution of the United States. Americans have the right to freely exercise religion, a sacred right that I will always fight for.
There is no pandemic exception to the First Amendment. Unfortunately, we have seen liberal Governors and mayors across the country use the coronavirus pandemic to go after churches, synagogues, mosques, and other houses of worship. For months, they have argued that houses of worship should not meet and congregants could not sing. They have condemned in-person worship services as a threat to public safety, all while they applaud massive political protests.
We saw it happen right here in the Nation's Capital. Mayor Bowser refused to grant a waiver to the Capitol Hill Baptist Church for religious gatherings but supported mass protests that violated her own orders. The church had to sue the city in Federal court for the right to gather, and the court ruled in favor of the church.
It is simply hypocritical and unconstitutional to target religious institutions while letting other businesses operate. We know those on the left will take every opportunity to infringe on Americans' First Amendment rights, but we won't let it happen.
This year has been challenging, and for many of us, our faith and our communities have helped us through it. Government doesn't have the right to take this away from American citizens.
I am proud to lead a resolution today with 15 of my colleagues to call out those who have wrongly tried to prevent Americans from practicing their faith. This is about rights granted to Americans under our Constitution.
What is the one thing every American believes in and has agreed to uphold. It is our Constitution, which we have each sworn to uphold as elected officials also.
We each took the same oath of office:
I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.
There is no reason anyone should object to upholding our Constitution. I will always fight for the religious liberty of all Americans, and I look forward to my colleagues passing this important resolution today.
However, I now am going to wait because I understand one of my Democratic colleagues is going to come object to upholding the Constitution and the First Amendment, the Bill of Rights. This is shocking to me.
Res.
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Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Mr. President, freedom of religion shouldn't be controversial. This is a fundamental right of our Nation, as stated in our Constitution: ``Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.''
What this resolution says is that the Senate affirms its support for the rights, liberties, and protections enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.
There is no pandemic exception to the First Amendment. For months, across this country, liberal politicians have targeted churches, synagogues, mosques, and other houses of worship. To let this happen undermines the principle of our Nation and the Constitution we have each sworn to uphold as elected officials. I don't understand why my colleague, who swore to uphold the Constitution, would object to a resolution that simply reaffirms our commitment to upholding the Constitution.
We are blessed to live in a great nation that respects religious liberty and the right to worship, especially as we see countries around the world like Communist China and Iran deny their citizens these same rights. Americans have the right to worship, and government doesn't get to decide for them.
I am clearly very disappointed that my colleague doesn't want to protect the First Amendment, but I will continue to stand against these misguided and hypocritical attempts to target religious institutions. I am never going to stop fighting for the religious liberty of all Americans, even during a pandemic.
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Mr. SCOTT of Florida. Let's remember, the concern was that he didn't like the section about New Jersey and said that was inaccurate, but the idea that the Senate will support religious freedom, he is not willing to stand behind.
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