On the recordJanuary 25, 2011
This provision about a talking filibuster says rather than having a situation where a Senator objects to a majority vote and then we delay the work of the Senate for a week, though nobody is here explaining their position to the American public, instead we would switch to a provision that says if 41 Senators want continued debate on a bill, we will get continued debate on a bill. We will have debate on a bill, not silence. Currently, we have the hidden or the silent filibuster. With this, we would create the public or the talking filibuster. To give a sense of the numbers on this, these blue bars represent filibusters during the last 2-year period. During the first 6 months 33, 34 in the second 6 months, 36 in the third 6 months, and then 33. I think that is 136 total filibusters in a 2-year period. This is why we didn't have any appropriations bills. This is why we didn't have a budget. This is why we didn't deal with hundreds of House bills. And this is why we didn't get nominations done and advice and consent on them. Is this the way the Senate has always operated? Absolutely not. In the last few decades there has been a huge change in how the Senate has functioned.
