Tom Harkin: “At issue in this debate is a principle at the heart of our representative democracy. This is from Alexander Hamilton in…”

“At issue in this debate is a principle at the heart of our representative democracy. This is from Alexander Hamilton in Federalist Paper No. 22: The fundamental maxim of republican government . . . requires that the sense of the majority should prevail. The Framers, to be sure, put in place important checks to temper pure majority rule. For example, the Bill of Rights protects fundamental rights and liberties. Moreover, the Framers imposed structural requirements. For example, to become a law, a bill must pass both Houses of Congress and then it is subject to the President's veto power, and then, of course, there are always the courts and the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of legislation. The Senate itself was a check on pure majority rule. As James Madison said: The use of the Senate is to consist in its proceeding with more coolness, with more system, and with more wisdom, than the popular branch. Meaning the House of Representatives. To achieve this purpose, citizens from the smallest States have the same number of Senators as citizens from the largest States, which I commented on earlier. Further, Senators are elected every 6 years, not every 2 years. These provisions in the Constitution are ample to protect minority rights and to restrain pure majority rule.…”