Political Quotes

“Many proposals surfaced to change the cloture rule. Major amendments were adopted. In all those debates, not a word was mentioned about nominations. Why should the debate have focused there? Nominations were not filibustered. What is happening now breaks sharply with Senate tradition in ways that are corrosive for this institution. To restore those traditions, I have proposed filibuster reform. Along with Senators Zell Miller and nine additional cosponsors, I introduced S. Res. 138 in May. Our proposal was heard, reported by the Rules Committee in June, and now awaits Senate action. The Frist-Miller proposal will alter the way the Senate concludes debate on nominations. By progressively declining cloture requirements of 60 votes, then 57 votes, then 54 votes, then 51, and finally, with a simple majority of Senators present and voting, we can end the practice of filibustering nominations if the Senate has the will to do so. Every effort to reform the cloture rule, whether successful or not, has been debated in its entirety. Frist-Miller is different. It reforms the cloture process only for nominations and leaves cloture for the remainder of Senate debate alone. We fix only what is broken.”