The transpartisan group No Labels has long been pushing for filibuster reform, which is #3 on their 12 reform list. Please consider joining No Labels or at least urge your senator to support filibuster reform. Now it seems the reform has passed, so please express your gratitude for the change. (Contact your senator via the link below). The full text of #3 from No Labels: The Problem Made famous by the 1939 film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and infamous by senators who used it to block civil rights legislation, the filibuster was initially conceived as a way to prevent a Senate majority from steamrolling the minority. As long as a senator kept talking on the floor, a bill could not move forward unless a supermajority of senators voted to end debate. For much of the 20th century, the Senate required a two-thirds majority vote (a device known as cloture) to break a filibuster. In 1975, the Senate reduced the number of votes required for cloture to three-fifths, or 60 of the current hundred senators. The filibuster has been used for good and for ill, but for most of the Senates history, it was rare, and it required members to stand up for hours on end to make their case. Neither is true anymore. In the first 50 years of the filibuster, it was used only 35 times. In the last two years alone, it was used over 100. And senators dont even have to show up on the floor to explain themselves – just signaling their intent to filibuster effectively stalls legislation. As a result, the Senate has become a place that one senator described as non-functional, where even routine bills must now clear 60 votes. This means that 41 senators, representing as little as 11% of the U.S. population could theoretically obstruct passage of a bill supported by 59 senators representing as much as 89% of the population. This is completely contrary to the intent of our Founders. They believed a supermajority should be required only in select circumstances including the passage of treaties, constitutional amendments and motions of impeachment. Finally, constant filibustering gums up the Senate calendar. Every filibuster kicks off a complex set of Senate procedures that effectively brings the institution to a stop for as long as a week and prevents other critical issues from being addressed. The No Labels Solution Our filibuster fix is based on a simple idea: If senators want to filibuster legislation, they should actually have to explain why in public. We propose a two-part solution to reduce unwarranted use of the filibuster in the Senate: Require Real (Not Virtual) Filibusters: If senators want to halt action on a bill, they must take to the floor and hold it through sustained debate. End Filibusters on Motions to Proceed: Today, filibusters can be used both to prevent a bill from reaching the floor for debate (motion to proceed) and from ultimately being passed. If the Senate simply ended the practice of filibustering motions to proceed, it could cut the number of filibusters in half and allow more issues to be debated and voted on by the full Senate. This proposal require a change of House and Senate rules, which can be made effective when the new Congress is seated. UPDATE: On January 24, 2013, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reached agreement on a modest set of reforms to the filibuster that will help make the legislative process more streamlined and inclusive of the minority party. No Labels believes this was a positive first step, but we will continue to push legislators to embrace the more ambitious filibuster reforms articulated here because we believe they are essential to a better functioning Senate.
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 18:21:26 +0000
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