Mazie Hirono: “most Americans don't wake up every day thinking about the arcane rules of the Senate. They might think the debate we are…”

“most Americans don't wake up every day thinking about the arcane rules of the Senate. They might think the debate we are having today is just another example of a legislative body they see as out of touch on the issues they care about most, issues on which a large majority of Americans agree action should be taken. For example, the Republican Senate hasn't done anything about the epidemic of gun violence. The Republican Senate hasn't taken action to expand access to affordable, quality, universal healthcare. Instead, Republicans have tried to take healthcare away from millions of people. The Republican Senate hasn't passed comprehensive immigration reform, let alone offered the blameless Dreamers a path to citizenship and a life in the only country they know. The Republican Senate hasn't taken decisive action to combat climate change. The Republican Senate hasn't taken steps to empower our middle class. Instead, it passed a huge tax cut for the wealthiest Americans and corporations. We should be having a real debate about all the issues I just mentioned. Instead, Republican leadership is proposing a resolution to, among other things, change Senate rules to reduce the number of hours of postcloture debate time from 30 hours to 2 hours for district court nominees.…”