CPSC Reform Act--Resumed
Floor Speech
CPSC REFORM ACT--RESUMED -- (Senate - March 06, 2008)
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
OBSTRUCTION AND FILIBUSTERS
Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, this morning, our colleague, the distinguished Senator from New York, Mr. Schumer, came to talk about the Republican obstruction and filibusters, and I guess I have been around here just a few years now, but I have learned that a charge that is unrebutted is a charge that is believed. In the interest of making sure people understand what the facts are, I would like to address his allegations.
This morning, Senator Schumer repeated a myth, which is the allegation that there have been 73 Republican filibusters in the 110th Congress. He said, ``This Republican minority can only obstruct.'' Based on what I believe is a complete distortion of the facts, he said the Republicans ``will be held accountable in November.''
Well, I might note that Senator Schumer, in addition to being the distinguished Senator from New York, is also the chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. And I would hope we would have better things to do than to use the floor of the Senate for partisan attacks when we have so much important work that needs to be done.
He said he wished we could ``go back to the good old days when filibusters were used for issues of major import but not used routinely to block every single piece of legislation.'' Well, it is evidence enough that is an overstatement and I think just a downright exaggeration, in that we are working right now on a bipartisan piece of legislation on the consumer protection issue to make sure American consumers are protected from dangerous products, particularly those that may be imported from abroad. But let me just say what the facts are.
Under the definition that Senator Schumer--and the majority leader before him--calls a filibuster, Republicans would be obstructing multiple times in 1 day on many occasions. What they are actually referring to is a record number of times that the majority leader has attempted to prevent debate and block Senators from offering amendments. What happens is he will come to the floor and he will call up a bill and then he will fill the amendment tree, which is a procedural device designed to block the offering of amendments. It basically imposes a ``my way or the highway'' approach to legislating in the Senate. You don't have to be around here very long to know that nothing happens around here unless there is some bipartisan agreement and work, and this bill we are on today is a perfect example of how it can work and how it should work.
Now, I would say that the majority leader is setting a record of his own, moving to cut off debate the first day a bill or resolution reaches the floor more than any other majority leader, whether they be Republican or Democrat. During the first session of the 110th Congress, Senator Reid filed cloture--that is, he filed to cut off debate--on the same day a bill or resolution was introduced on nine separate occasions. Before we have had a chance to even talk about it, before anybody has even had a chance to offer amendments, he filed to cut off debate, cut off amendments, nine times. That is three times more than Majority Leaders Frist, Daschle, Lott, Mitchell, or BYRD ever did in the first session of Congress and nine times more than in the first session of the 109th Congress.
Among these 73 Republican filibusters, so-called, Democrats include
times when members of their own party actually filibustered issues of great importance to the American people. Here are a couple of examples.
Senator Dodd, from Connecticut, filibustered the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows us the authority to listen to terrorists who are conspiring to harm the American people; the so-called filibuster by our Democratic friends of the McConnell-Stevens troop funding bill last November, which was designed to provide funds to our troops in harm's way, which had been delayed for far too long; and then, of course, the filibuster of Judge Leslie Southwick, a circuit court nominee.
Cloture motions that were filed by Republicans in an effort to avoid obstruction were also included.
Of the more than 73 so-called filibusters, Senate Democrats either voted to ``filibuster'' or voted with Republicans, and the vote was unanimous on five occasions.
Well, let me just say that I know sometimes the nomenclature and the procedures get awfully confusing here on the Senate floor, but the American people clearly would like to see us work together more to solve problems. We are not talking about people giving or taking leave of their principles or their firmly held convictions, but everybody who works here on the Senate floor knows that the only way things happen is by bipartisan cooperation because neither side has the 60 votes to cut off debate and get what they want, as you could if you had a majority in the House of Representatives.
I even read today that the distinguished majority leader compared so-called filibusters to aggravated assaults. He said: It doesn't make any difference whether it is 72 or 65 stabbings, it is still the fact you have been assaulted. Well, I just think that kind of rhetoric is over the top.
What we need to do is, rather than make false charges about obstruction, we need to come together and try to solve problems. I believe that is what the American people want us to do.
So rather than have this unrebutted allegation out there, lest people believe it, because it is being repeated over and over, I think it is important to set the record straight.
I think everybody in this body knows what the deal is; that is, if we are going to solve problems, we are going to have to work together. This CPSC bill is the perfect example. The majority leader did not have to file cloture in order to bring us to conclusion. We sat down and we have negotiated amendments, we have offered amendments, and we have had votes. That is the way this place works.
But I think what is fair is fair, and we need to make sure the story is accurately told. As Senator McConnell said earlier--quoting Daniel Patrick Moynihan--everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but nobody is entitled to their own set of facts.
Facts being what they are, people can then decide what their opinion is. But it is clear this is not a case of obstruction--unless, of course, you are talking about blocking tax increases on the American people, and I will be honest, we did block those tax increases because they are bad for the economy, bad for the American people. But by and large, when we have been met halfway, we have worked together to try to solve problems.
I thank the chair very much for the time that I have had to respond. I think it is important that the full context of the record be clear.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
Mr. REID. Madam President, I happened to pass by, and I am glad I did because my friend, the Senator from Texas, the junior Senator from Texas, is talking about facts that do not exist.
The comment about the 72 stabbings came from me. The fact is, in looking very closely at this, it appears that there were not 72 Republican-led filibusters but only 65. I used an illustration that someone who is charged with a crime--I know the distinguished Presiding Officer was a prosecuting attorney--comes in after having stabbed someone 72 times and says: No, I only did it 65 times.
The American people know what is going on. The American people know what is going on. Every step of the way, we have had to work around procedural obstructions put up by the Republicans--every step of the way. The result of that has taken a lot of time. We have spent 76 days of Senate time on filibusters led by Senate Republicans.
Now, the American people have seen what is going on. They have had more than a year to look and see what is going on. They are going to continue to see. But what I said last Friday, I say today: The Republicans in the Senate should enjoy their time because they are not going to be able to do this after November 4. The American people have seen what they have tried to do and been able to accomplish on many occasions. And we are going to continue to do the best we can in spite of the obstacles put up by the Republicans.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.
Mr. CORNYN. Madam President, I could not disagree more with the distinguished majority leader. But I will tell you that when it comes to increasing taxes, bigger Government, and higher spending, sure, we are going to stand our ground. We are going to try to block the increased rates on the taxpayers' check and growing the size of Government beyond our capacity to sustain it and failing to meet the obligations we have to pay for things such as Medicare and Social Security and passing those down to our children and grandchildren.
We are on the verge of the debate on the 2009 Federal budget. One of the problems we need to work on together rather than merely accuse each other of malfeasance or misfeasance is $66 trillion in unfunded obligations we are passing on to our children and grandchildren.
I am on the Budget Committee. We had a vote on the budget that will come to the floor next week. There is nothing in the budget--nothing in this budget--that addresses the concerns I know we have on a bipartisan basis about this unsustainable growth of entitlement spending.
So that is the kind of thing we ought to be working on on a bipartisan basis--how can we protect the family's budget rather than wreck the Federal budget. But instead of that, we find there is this back-and-forth for partisan gain.
The majority leader said: Wait until the election day in November. Well, people know what this is about. This is about partisan politics. This is not about trying to solve problems. I hope we can do so.
Again, I compliment the Senator from Arkansas and the Senator from Alaska for addressing on a bipartisan basis consumer safety in this bill. This is a good example of what we ought to be doing, not engaging in partisan sniping that I think does nothing but continue to bring public opinion of Congress to the lowest levels in recent history.
That is why the approval rating of this Congress is at the 18-percentage rate.
So we ought to try to find ways to work together, not engage in this sort of partisan sniping in an effort to gain advantage, electoral advantage, in November. It does not work, for one thing. I think the American people listening to this say: A pox on both your houses. What they want to do is see us work together to solve the problems.
We are going to have a chance on the budget to try to keep spending down, to try to make sure we do not raise taxes and we deal with the obligation we have to meet on unfunded liabilities that will be passed on to our children and grandchildren. That is what I hope we spend our time doing rather than partisan politics.
I yield the floor.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, just briefly, roughly half the votes on this chart that the distinguished majority leader has described as filibusters were actually successful votes where cloture was invoked once the majority worked with us, allowed full consideration of the bills, and those bills actually moved forward and became law.
On roughly half of the instances--I have not looked at the entire chart; this is the first time I have seen it here. But that is a perfect example of how we ought to be working together and not an example of obstruction, but it is actually a means that the Senate has been allowed to do what the Senate does, and that is to have full debate, a fair opportunity to offer amendments and then up-or-down votes on amendments and then pass legislation that goes to the President and is signed for the benefit of the American people.
So I disagree with his characterization on at least half of those votes. They resulted in successfully passed legislation, not an example of obstructionism but of this Senate actually working the way the Senate should.
I yield the floor.
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