Orrin Hatch: “in recent days I have twice spoken here on the floor--not about a particular issue, bill, or nomination pending before…”

“in recent days I have twice spoken here on the floor--not about a particular issue, bill, or nomination pending before the Senate, but about the Senate itself. While issues, bills, nominations, and even partisan majorities come and go, the Senate as an institution must remain--and remain not only in some tattered form, some distorted shadow of its former self, but, rather, the Senate must remain as it was designed to be. The political winds may blow, but the institution must stand strong. Unfortunately, in my 38 years of service in this body I have never seen it weaker than it is today. There once was a consensus here not only about the need to keep this institution strong but also about how to do it. That consensus evolved from how the Framers designed this body so that it could play its unique role in the system of government they inspirationally crafted. James Madison, for example, remarked at the 1787 Constitutional Convention that the Senate's proceedings could have more coolness, more system, and more wisdom than the House of Representatives. He was not talking about coolness in the way our teenagers talk about it today. The House is designed for more or less direct expression of the popular will and operates by simple majority. By contrast, the Senate is designed for deliberation. For more than two centuries it has operated by a supermajority and even unanimous consent.…”