Hank Johnson: “Today, I am saddened as I rise in support and on behalf of the American people who do not believe that the fate of the…”

“Today, I am saddened as I rise in support and on behalf of the American people who do not believe that the fate of the Nation should be subject to the whims of just one single individual Senator. The Senate filibuster was first used in 1837, and for more than a century, it has been used very sparingly and as a last resort. Even as recently as the 1960s, when the filibuster was used to obstruct historic civil rights legislation, it was used to block legislation in less than 10 percent of major bills, but a rule change in the 1970s opened up the floodgates for abuse. Suddenly, by simply threatening to filibuster, a single Senator could obstruct any bill that lacked 60 votes. Today, the filibuster is the last stand of special interests and is a platform for grandstanding by obstructionist Senators. In 2009, the Party of No, the Senate Republicans, paralyzed the country, filibustering our political process--80 percent of major legislation filibustered.”