Political Quotes

“The reason people filibuster is to try to defeat a measure and stalling and delaying a vote is much worse than just defeating a measure. It is defeating the American economy. It will be putting the economy in a ditch if we do not resolve this issue. So we have to be very clear on what the vote is tonight. It is not a vote on the Reid measure. It is a vote on this motion to bring the debate--and these are the words of the motion: We, 18 Senators, move to bring to a close the debate on the Reid motion. That is what we are voting on and the Republican leader tries to coat that or characterize that as a vote on the Reid motion. It is not. We want to vote on the Reid motion. We want to vote. But we will not be allowed to vote on the Reid motion, on the proposal which the majority leader has offered which has a majority support in this Senate; we will not be allowed to vote on that if debate is not ended, if the filibuster continues because 60 Senators are not willing to end it. We will have at least 50-plus to end debate. But let it be clear, let the public understand that if we are not allowed to vote on the Reid measure tonight, the Republicans presumably will continue their filibuster, and we are not going to just simply allow them to defeat it. We are not going to just simply sit down and say: Well, we couldn't end the debate and the filibuster; we didn't get 60 votes--if we don't--tonight. We are not going to do that. That is not going to happen tonight.…”