Political Quotes

“Mr. President, there has been a lot of talk about the legislative filibuster here in the Senate over the last few days. As we started the new Congress evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, the Republican leader had proposed that the Democrat leader include a commitment to preserving the legislative filibuster and the power-sharing agreement the leaders have been working out. This should have been easy. Less than 4 years ago, with a Republican President in the White House and Republicans in control of the Senate and the House of Representatives, a bipartisan group of 61 Senators affirmed their support for retaining the legislative filibuster, stating: ``We are united in our determination to preserve the ability of Members to engage in extended debate when bills are on the Senate floor.'' There are 26--26--current Democratic Senators--a majority of the current Democratic caucus--who signed that defense of the legislative filibuster when they were in the Senate minority. It is disappointing that the Democrat leader failed to express his support for this essential Senate rule. Nevertheless, thanks to the recent commitment from two Senate Democrats to oppose any attempt to eliminate the filibuster--a commitment which secures this key protection for minority rights-- Leader McConnell is now moving forward without a statement from the Democrat leader. But it is worth taking a moment to reiterate why the legislative filibuster is so important.…”