Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007--Continued

Floor Speech

INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2007--Continued -- (Senate - April 16, 2007)

Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I rise to oppose cloture on the Intelligence authorization. There are plenty of things wrong with this bill, but our primary objection, once again, is the way it is being handled on the floor.

The Democratic majority has filed 21 cloture motions so far this session. At this rate, we will have 160 cloture motions by the end of the 110th Congress. This would shatter the old record of 82 back in 1995 and 1996.

The purpose of filing cloture early is to end debate and accelerate the passage of a measure, but abusing this privilege has the opposite effect. If the minority is shut out of the debate, it will block participation until their Members are respected and their voices are given an opportunity to be heard. We have seen this happen again and again over the last 3 1/2 months as the majority has repeatedly struggled and failed to move legislation.

Republicans take no joy in this, but we will continue to defend our right to be heard. The Senate, as we have learned over the years, is not the House. Contrast this torpid pace of legislation in this Congress with the first 3 1/2 months of the last one, when Republicans passed some of the most far-reaching civil justice reforms in decades. Republicans knew that the price of passing laws was to work with the minority, to have an open debate, and to vote on amendments the other side had to offer.

On bankruptcy reform, for example, we allowed 30 votes, including final passage. On this date, in the first session of the 109th Congress, Republicans had filed only four cloture motions. Looking back to the previous Congress on this date, we had only filed four cloture motions. We have had 21 filed by the new majority.

On this date in the first session of the 108th Congress, we had filed 5 cloture motions, as compared to 21 at this point with the new majority. On this date in the first session of the 107th Congress, we had only filed one cloture motion.

I think the message is pretty clear. I started this session by expressing the hope that we would do big and important things for the country. The realities of divided Government and the rules of the Senate make that supremely possible, and I thought the bipartisan meeting we had that first week in the Old Senate Chamber was a sign of good things to come. I still have that hope, and I see a real opportunity opening with the early steps the majority leader has taken on immigration reform. We are going to that the last 2 weeks before the Memorial Day recess. I think that is a good thing. I commend him for it.

It is my hope that this trend of limited debate and limited amendments--which, of course, leads to the limitation of minority rights--will soon come to an end. Madam President, 3 1/2 months is not that long a time. We can still correct course and accomplish very important things for our country.

I yield the floor.

Source