The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“FILIBUSTER” mentioning John Barrasso was published in the Senate section on pages S146-S147 on Jan. 26.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Senators' salaries are historically higher than the median US income.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
FILIBUSTER
Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, in the 2020 elections, Americans chose an evenly-divided Senate--half Republican, half Democrat. Evenly divided. Since the Vice President is able to break a tie when it comes to specifically organizing the Senate, Democrats have the majority.
Now some Democrats want to lower the threshold for all the votes so that to pass anything, all they would need to do in case of a tie vote would have the Vice President be the tiebreaker. That is the way that a majority works. When there is a tie and the Vice President is in one party, they get to break the tie in that direction, of course.
What we need to make sure of, though, is that there is fairness in the process. The traditions and how this institution works are that we have a filibuster. Sixty votes is how legislation is passed.
We know that the press and sometimes folks in Congress say it is hard to pass a law. Well, it is not supposed to be easy. It takes discussion. It takes negotiation. It brings people together. That is the idea of needing 60 votes--to bring people together to get a bipartisan consensus so that all the voices are heard; that there is a majority, and the minority voice is heard, and it forces us to find common ground.
Frankly, I think there is too little of finding common ground in Washington already. The last thing America needs is even more divisiveness. This is a big, diverse country. We don't need 50 percent of the country plus one to run roughshod over all the others. That is why our Founders were so careful to protect the rights of the minority. That is why they created the Bill of Rights, why they created the electoral college, and why they created the U.S. Senate. The Founding Fathers didn't want the Senate to be a copy of the House. We are intended to be a check on the House.
There is a story that President Washington compared the Senate to a saucer used to cool down a cup of tea. President Madison compared it to a fence. We are not supposed to be a smaller version of the House of Representatives. The Senate is supposed to cool things down. We are supposed to think things through. We are supposed to stop bad ideas and stop the House from moving too fast. Changing the rules of the Senate would make that impossible.
Lowering the bar to 50 votes could also be a blatant power grab, which is 50 votes and the Vice President. The Democrats could even add States to the Union--specifically States that would elect more Democrats to the Senate. It would give them even more Senate seats, could even give them a permanent majority in the Senate.
With 50 votes plus the Vice President, Democrats could also pack the Supreme Court with liberal activist judges--judges who legislate from the bench, not judges who apply the law as written. That would give them a permanent majority both in the Senate and on the Court.
With a single rule change, one branch of government, one Chamber of Congress, could be under permanent Democratic control. It is no surprise that it is tempting to Senate Democrats and that the far-left branch of that party is demanding that occur.
You remember that when President Trump was in office, Republicans had a chance to do exactly the same thing. In fact, former President Trump repeatedly asked us and told us that we should do just that. In one particularly memorable example, he tweeted: ``The U.S. Senate should switch to 51 votes.'' He said: ``Dems would do it, no doubt.'' More than 30 different times, President Trump asked that Republicans end the filibuster. We didn't. We stuck to the intentions of our Founding Fathers. We protected the rights of the minority, and we put country before party.
If Democrats won't stop the power grab for the good of the country, then they should at least do it for their own good.
Democrats have had 50 votes and the Vice President for only a few days. In fact, when Democrats were in the minority, 33 Democratic Senators said they didn't want to change the rules. They signed a letter, and that letter called for the preservation of the rights of the minority. Twenty-seven of those Democrats are still Members of the Senate today. One of those Democrats is now the Vice President of the United States, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Even President Biden called the idea of eliminating the filibuster
``a very dangerous move.'' The White House Press Secretary told us last week President Biden still opposes changing the rules.
If Democrats go down this road and break the rules of the Senate, they are doing more than just hurting the institution; they are admitting their ideas don't have broad bipartisan support. Think about that. If the Democratic agenda had the support of the American people, then they wouldn't need to change the rules. If Democrats could find bipartisan support to pass their tax increases, they would leave the rules alone. If Democrats could find bipartisan support to pass the Green New Deal and higher energy costs that come with it, they would leave the rules alone. If they could restrict gun ownership, they would leave the rules alone. They can't, and they know they can't. They know the American people have looked at their progressive agenda and said: No, thank you.
President Biden's inaugural address last week talked a lot about unity. He said that ``with unity we can do great things.'' I agree.
I ask my Democratic colleagues if they agree with the President's inaugural address, or do they really think that they want to make the U.S. Senate more partisan, more divided. Do they really want to take power away from individual Senators and give it to whoever has 50 votes and the tiebreaker at the moment? If it is hard for Democrats to pass laws, then they should try talking with us. Propose bipartisan solutions to our Nation's challenges. Persuade your colleagues. Make progress together.
As my friend, former Senator Lamar Alexander, said in his farewell address just a month ago--he said: ``We don't need a change of rules. The Senate needs a change of behavior.''
I urge my Democratic colleagues to reject this blatant power grab. Stop this rush to take more and more power. Come to the center. Reach across the aisle. Find common ground.
Senate Republicans are ready to work together to help the American people, to get people back to work, to get our kids safely back to school so they don't fall further behind, and to get the virus behind us. Join us. Let's work together. Let's do what is right for the people we serve.
I yield the floor
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