Amending the Standing Rules and Procedure of the Senate--s. Res. 8, S. Res. 10, S. Res. 21, S. Res. 28, and S. Res. 29--continued
Floor Speech
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Ms. KLOBUCHAR. Mr. President, I first wish to commend Senator Wyden, Senator Grassley, and Senator McCaskill for their incredible determination to get this done. We thought we did it when our class of Senators came in. We thought we had gotten rid of the secret hold, but lo and behold, people found a way to work around it, and their determination has meant we are finally going to do this and we are going to do it right.
Secondly, I wish to thank Senator Alexander as well as Senator Schumer of the Rules Committee for negotiating a number of these changes, as well as Senator Reid and Senator McConnell. When I think back over the last few months and what has happened, we had an incredibly productive lameduck session at the end of the last Congress. We all know there is a lot of work to be done, but in the closing months of this year, we showed people--I think to their surprise--that we could truly get some things done on a bipartisan basis. When the American people unite and see a clear issue--whether it was the nuclear arms treaty, whether it was the vote on the repeal of don't ask, don't tell, or whether it was the first responders after 9/11--and they see what is happening in this Chamber because they actually see a debate, they see someone standing up and making their points as the Presiding Officer does so well on so many issues, then they can make a decision. That is all we are talking about, when we talk about these sometimes complicated and convoluted rules changes, is getting things out in the open. Obviously, the first thing is to get rid of the secret holds and permanently end them.
The second important thing is filibuster reform. It is a longstanding tradition in the Senate that one Senator can, if she chooses, hold the floor to explain her objections to a bill. We always think of Jimmy Stewart's character Jefferson Smith in ``Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.'' This is where Senator Udall--and by the way, I always think his voice sort of sounds like Jimmy Stewart--and Senator Merkley have done such a tremendous job of pushing these filibuster reform issues, as well as Senator Tom Harkin, who has been working on this long before our group ever came to the Senate.
A group of us got together with the smart proposals made by Senators Harkin, Udall, and Merkley to determine the best reforms and what are the ones we can truly get through; what is a package we can go to the other side of the aisle with and talk about what we need to do to get it done. The agreement that has been reached includes some of the important changes we want. The first I mentioned is to get rid of secret holds, but of course critical reforms to the filibuster are still necessary as far as I can see. One of the things I hope we reconsider as we go down this road is the idea that we could actually make people stand to filibuster, so that they are in this Chamber, they are discussing why it is so important that they hold up something, whether it is a judge, whether it is the assistant secretary of Oceanic Affairs, whether it is a major bill or a minor bill. People should be able to hear the arguments and then make their own decision. By the way, if they have a good argument for filibustering something or if a group of Senators has a good idea, the American people will say OK, I can understand why this is happening. If they are just doing it for reasons that don't make any sense to the people of this country, then they are going to be seen for what they are doing, and that is slowing down the progress of this country at a time when there are so many major issues we need to deal with in this Chamber.
So I am happy we have been able to reach agreement on a number of these important issues. It would not have happened without the determination of the people who are here today, and I look forward to more changes and agreements in the future.
With that, I yield the floor.
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