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- Nov 07, 2020
Filibuster Quotes
A Senate rule, argued from every side
These quotes track how the filibuster has changed over time, noting it was used far less often around 1960 than it is in recent Senate politics. Browse Debate quotes for more.
- Last Updated on May 30, 2021
- Eliminated
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- Nov 07, 2020
The House of Representatives eliminated the filibuster way back in the 19th century, and somehow it managed to survive.
- Problem
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- Nov 07, 2020
President Barack Obama has it right - there is a lot to change about Washington. The problem is, not much will get changed unless we confront the runaway filibuster in the U.S. Senate.
- Enough
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- Nov 07, 2020
We have promised to do better, and no Republican concern should ever be enough to filibuster our own bill.
- Find
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- Nov 07, 2020
In theory, the filibuster helps whichever party is in the minority in the Senate. In practice, it is the Republicans who have disproportionately used it to engage in cynical and anti-democratic obstructionism whenever they find themselves in the minority.
- Floor
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- Nov 07, 2020
If I have to filibuster on the Senate floor, I'll even read the King James Bible until the wall is funded.
- George W. Bush
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- Nov 07, 2020
When George W. Bush tried to roll back taxpayer exposure to a housing crash via Fannie and Freddie, guess what two senators joined a filibuster of the Bush initiative? Yep... those saviors of the working class, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. They went to bat for the housing industry and voted to allow taxpayer exposure to escalate.
- Me
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- Nov 07, 2020
The power of the silent filibuster to distort Senate politics is now accepted on Capitol Hill and by the press as normal and not worth mentioning. Let me be the skunk at this political garden party and say this stinks. Representative government was not designed to work this way by the Founding Fathers.
- Energy
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- Nov 07, 2020
It seems as though there are Members in this body who want to filibuster just about everything we try to do, whether it is stopping judicial nominations, the Energy bill, or this Medicare bill.
- Feet
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- Nov 07, 2020
My way of viewing the talking filibuster was as a way of doing unanimous consent with your feet. You object by going down and talking.
- Debate
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- Nov 07, 2020
Filibusters should require 35 senators to... make a commitment to continually debate an issue in reality, not just in theory. The number of votes needed to overcome a filibuster should be reduced to 55 from 60.
- Like
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- Nov 07, 2020
Filibusters have proliferated because under current rules just one or two determined senators can stop the Senate from functioning. Today, the mere threat of a filibuster is enough to stop a vote; senators are rarely asked to pull all-nighters like Jimmy Stewart in 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.'
- Healthy
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- Nov 07, 2020
Healthy debate has been replaced by automatic sensors that eliminate the need for actual talking during a filibuster - a la 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.' Robust debate is necessary in a democratic society. Instead, our discourse has been relegated to media spin by expert entertainers.
- Politics
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- Nov 07, 2020
They say women talk too much. If you have worked in Congress you know that the filibuster was invented by men.
- Men
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- Nov 07, 2020
They say that women talk too much. If you have worked in Congress you know that the filibuster was invented by men.
- Each Individual
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- Nov 07, 2020
The filibuster is used more aggressively, so I think doing each individual appropriations bill through regular order would be a home run. But I think that we should try to hit a few singles.
- Education
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- Nov 07, 2020
We demand that segregation be ended in every school district in the year 1963! We demand that we have effective civil rights legislation - no compromise, no filibuster - and that include public accommodations, decent housing, integrated education, FEPC and the right to vote.
- Newspaper
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- Nov 07, 2020