Political Quotes

“Thank you, I appreciate that from the Senator from Arkansas. Just along the lines of what my colleagues have said, I would also say that I want to be very clear that I don't want this place to turn into the House of Representatives. I think that would be a huge mistake. But it is not behaving the way that the Founders designed it to behave. And the history, admittedly, is opaque, but it is very clear to me that the modern abuse of the filibuster represents very little in the way of traditional Senate practice or what the Framers were considering. So I can imagine finding ourselves in a place where we actually have extended debate, where we actually have a public filibuster like we used to have--everybody remembers the movie version of that; they actually did that on the floor of the Senate--versus the secret filibuster that acts as a perpetual veto by the minority on the majority, something that the Framers clearly were trying to avoid and, at the same time, gives the minority the chance to hold the floor, persuade the American people of their point of view, amend legislation in ways that is unimaginable in the House and then, in the end, gives the majority the chance to actually make a decision so we can effectively compete with countries all over the world that aren't held up by the kind of veto we are talking about. There is not a legislative body in the world that I am aware of, in any of the other countries with which we compete, that has a filibuster.…”