Political Quotes

“Mr. President, Senator Alexander is my friend. Sometimes that word is thrown around the floor of the Senate not very sincerely, but I mean it and he knows it. And I respect him very much. But I would say to the Senator, there is no other way to describe what we are going through than a filibuster. A filibuster is, of course, an effort by at least one Member of the Senate to continue the debate and stop the vote on a matter, whether it is an amendment or a nomination. A cloture motion--in other words, to close off the debate--is an effort to produce 60 votes to overcome that Senator and to move to a vote, a final vote, on an amendment or a nomination. So by every Senate standard, by every definition, what we are facing with Senator Chuck Hagel as a nominee for the Secretary of Defense is a filibuster. It is. And that is why the majority leader filed a motion for cloture. It is interesting to note that 59 Senators--a substantial majority of the Senate--were prepared to vote for Chuck Hagel to be Secretary of Defense, including four from the Republican side of the aisle. But we fell short of the needed 60 votes, the 60 votes under cloture, needed to end a filibuster. So I have to say to my friend from Tennessee, by every definition in the Senate, by every standard, your side has successfully filibustered the nomination of Chuck Hagel in the U.S. Senate.…”