On the recordJanuary 27, 2011
earlier today I supported S. Res 8 because I believe additional action to change existing Senate rules to limit filibusters are needed. I very much appreciate the work of Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader McConnell in developing a colloquy printed in the Record today. Specifically, I support the pledges to limit the use of filibusters on motions to proceed and to fill the amendment tree on legislation only when necessary. Unfortunately, I do not believe that these pledges alone go far enough to address the dysfunction the--epic dysfunction--of the last years. Frankly, the extraordinary measure of a filibuster has become an ordinary expedient. Today it's possible for 41 Senators representing only about one-tenth of the American population to bring the Senate to a standstill. The filibuster has its rightful place. I used it to stop drilling for oil in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge because I believed that was in our national interest--and 60 or more Senators should be required to speak up on such an irrevocable decision. But we have reached the point where the filibuster is being invoked by the minority not necessarily because of a difference over policy, but as a political tool to undermine the Presidency.
