By a majority vote simply because the Senate operates on the basis that precedents can be established by simple majorities.

It is in Supreme Court cases repeated over and over and over again.

I intend to take a thoughtful, thorough approach to this topic.

It is time again for reform.

the filibuster has changed over the years.

We must consider reforms to the filibuster to ensure it serves its intended purpose.

The Senate of each new Congress is not bound by the rules of the previous Senates under Section 5 of Article 1 of the Constitution.

We should not limit our reform efforts to the filibuster, but look at all the rules.

the threat of filibusters has become an almost daily fact of life in the Senate.

This Congress will go down in history as probably one of the more productive Congresses in generations.

legislative entrenchment has long been recognized as an illegal procedure.

One of the arguments that is made is that if we change the Senate rules, somehow the Senate will become identical to the House.

I hope that by reforming our rules, we can restore some of the collegiality and bipartisanship that our Founders intended for the Senate.

the bill would designate insect and disease emergency areas.

S. 2830 is an important bill that I have introduced and that Senator Udall is co-sponsoring with me.

Beginning to untangle fire suppression costs from the rest of the USFS budget is a critical step to let USFS focus resources on forest health.

I am disappointed that the Interior Department currently limits these funds to coal reclamation.

myself and Representative Scanlan are pleased that Chairman Udall and Senator Risch have introduced the National Forest Insect and Disease Emergency Act of 2009.