John Cornyn: “throughout the Presidential campaign, President Biden spoke often about the need to unify the country. He talked about…”

“throughout the Presidential campaign, President Biden spoke often about the need to unify the country. He talked about the need for people across our great Nation to come together to empathize with one another and to mend the divisions that exist in our society. He echoed that same theme in his inaugural address, saying: Without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury. No progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only a state of chaos. I agree with President Biden that there is an imperative to restore unity and civility throughout our country, but for all of the talk of uniting, compromising, and working together, the early pages of this new chapter read quite differently. For starters, there are the actions of our Democratic colleagues who are trying to eliminate the legislative filibuster. They have echoed and praised the President's call for unity and bipartisanship while threatening to tear down the very rules that force us to work together in a bipartisan way. We know that the filibuster, or the cloture requirement that requires 60 votes to close off debate, is designed to encourage a fulsome debate of the issues that confront 330 million Americans. It is what distinguishes the Senate from other legislative bodies. Unlike in the House of Representatives, where you need a simple majority in order to work your will, the Senate requires 60 votes to be in agreement in order to close off debate before a bill can be passed with 51 votes or more.…”