Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the Senate, of which I am a new Member, was at one time called the world's greatest deliberative body. Its rules have remained largely unchanged since the origin of the Senate. This Chamber's distinguishing attribute has undoubtedly been its right of unlimited debate and its greatest protections are the rules put in place to defend that right of debate. I am worried about the talk now of destroying any Senator's ability to filibuster, to delay consideration of a bill, because it is a fundamental right of all Senators to express their opposition to legislation even when that Senator stands alone--when you are the only one who opposes that legislation. This is an important right, protecting a Senator's right to object and a Senator's right to represent his or her own constituency. Something tells me the desire to curb this unlimited debate of the Senate doesn't really come from a failure of the Senate's rules but, rather, a desire by some to see that an agenda can be pushed through by ignoring that minority right, by overriding the objections of an individual Senator on behalf of his or her constituents. The rules of the Senate should not be targeted for change until we look at what the problems are in the way we conduct our business currently.…”