Tom Harkin: “I find the argument just made by the minority whip most intriguing. He is talking about a filibuster. Mr. President…”

“I find the argument just made by the minority whip most intriguing. He is talking about a filibuster. Mr. President, something is wrong here. It was the Republican side, for the last two Congresses, that filibustered the striker replacement bill. What is going on here? Surely, the Senator from Mississippi understands that it was their side that filibustered in the last two Congresses the striker replacement bill. That legislation passed the House, came to the Senate, and it was the Republicans who filibustered the bill, not the Democrats. We are not filibustering this bill. We will have a vote on the underlying bill. For the last two Congresses, the Republicans would not permit the striker replacement bill to come up for a vote, and in both of those Congresses we had the majority votes to pass it. One Congress we had 57 votes; last year we had 53 votes. It was the Republicans who filibustered, not the Democrats. I want to set that record straight.”