that's not a good thing. That hurts our economy, hurts job creation and the like.

One of the things I have learned the last 2 years in the Senate is that when 41 Senators vote for more debate, that is basically what is happening. When Senators vote for more debate, 41 of them, then we don't get more debate. A lot of…

Let me also say one thing about the talking filibuster that hit me, and that is bipartisanship. As we know, both of us, I think, were on the Senate floor when Senator Arlen Specter gave his farewell address. I believe the Presiding Officer…

I think this shows this isn't about a power grab; this is about trying to work to make sure the Senate is going to work better for the American people. The fifth provision of S. Res. 10--and as Senator Merkley knows, we are down here today…

Here is a piece of legislation where we were talking about inmigrant children--through no fault of their own; they were probably brought in as tiny babies--who have grown up in the United States and have reached the age of adulthood and…

We now have a situation today where we cannot get our rules proposals onto the floor. Senator Merkley is here with a talking filibuster proposal. I say to the Senator, I believe he has been talking with you. I say to Senator Alexander, you…

Just as one Congress cannot enact a law that a subsequent Congress could not amend by majority vote, one Senate cannot enact a rule that a subsequent Senate could not amend by majority vote. Such power, after all, would violate the general…

Let me finally say to the Senator from Oregon, the Presiding Officer, that I very much appreciate his support both in working with me on the constitutional option and sorting out the details and making sure we have things right and also…

The filibuster has been twisted in a way that it does exactly what the Senator is talking about--slowing everything down. It is an attempt, in a way, to defeat the majority from governing. One of the biggest dangers in a democracy is if…

I rise today to introduce the resolution I just mentioned. I have worked very hard with all of my colleagues... The Senate is broken. In the Congress that just ended, because of rampant and growing obstruction, not a single appropriations…

Senator Alexander asked the question: What is a filibuster? He was asking our side. He was asking in this debate, what is a filibuster? Well, all of us know and we have heard in this debate what a true filibuster is. We saw a hero here on…

efforts to reform the motion to proceed have continued since. In 1984, a bipartisan Study Group on Senate Practices and Procedures recommended placing a 2-hour limit on debate of a motion to proceed. That recommendation was ignored. In…