mac mathias has gone home. and so we gather today to celebrate the life of a man who did his duty by meeting his high calling. we sent out our compassion to ann bradford mathias whose marriage to mac was a love match, a perfect blending of old stock new england. and our own compassion goes out to charlie and rob and the rest of the mathias family. here's to a man whose dignity, wisdom, courage and integrity earned him the respect and admiration of all who met him, all who knew him, a number far too high to measure. and still this celebration would be incomplete were it to conclude without a few words about other members of the mathias family who, at a much earlier date, were also called home from above. first, let us speak of sha finish ny. shanny. may i see a show of hands of those who recognize the name? for those of you in the dark, shanny played the lead role in the stephen country horrow movie, kujo -- cujo, about a big dog that terrorized a small town in maine. shanny scared the life out of capitol hill p

but there is a mathias moment which i will always remember. you won't find in the congressional record. nor any the archives of his speeches, or any of the thousands of gatherings in which charles mathias was the center of attention. there was a moment in the senate chamber, a moment that's forgettable and was obscure to quorum call. he told me so much about the man i read your. it centered around a debate in the senate, the issue is not important. at one point the senator on the losing side of the debate raise a point of order. the chair upon advice of the parliamentarian's ruled against the point of order. something unusual for that era occurred. an appeal was taken from the decision of the chair. the question before the senate was whether to sustain the chair. senate staffers as we all want to do, begin preparing guidance for the bosses on what was at stake, who made the appeal, what was the underlying issue, how was senator expo, how would senator wyden out? mac mathias, regardless of whether his party or his friends may stand on the issue

mac mathias has gone home.and so we gather today to celebrate the life of a many who did his duty by meeting his high calling. he sent out compassion to his wife, who marriage was a love match. a perfect blending of old stock new england and the highlands of frederick county. and our own compassion goes out to charlie and rob and the rest of the family. here's to a man who's dignity, wisdom, courage, and integrity earned him the respect of all who met him, all who knew him, and a number far too high to measure. still this celebration would be incomplete where it to conclude without a few words about other members of the mathias family who had a much earlier date were also called home from above. first let us speak of shammy. may i see a show of hands of those who recognize the name? for those of who in the dark, shammy played the lead role in the steven king horror movie " "kuj o" about a big dog that terrorized a small town in maine. scaring the living daylights of capitol hill, police, ends probably even some

mac mathias loved

for mac mathias it was a separate issue. regardless of where his friends and party stood, regardless of the popularity, those things were less important. partisanship would not influence his vote neither would french. -- neither would friendship. good order, fairness also depend on this. he would vote to sustain the ruling of the chair. that spirit of independence and the principles of good government informed many. he saw the place of government as standing behind, not in front of the constitution. the dictates of law ensures equal rights and values that could not be subjected to sentiment. the american creed allowed no less. some said he was a renegade. if so, then so were thomas jefferson and teddy roosevelt. so was martin luther king, and yet this gentleme could manage o hold -- gentle man could manage to hold his tongue when all around were losing theirs. how did he manage to hear them out without getting caught up in the argument? he said that he learned a lesson from the late speaker sam rayburn when they served toget

been pulled in this direction since ronald reagan's time, talking about in your last segment, chuck mathiasth and the entire republican party is more conservative than they used to be. wherever the baseline moves, people want to move it further. not going to adopt the tea party agenda in full but to a striking extent, the republican party is monolithically -- >> do you think it is possible, ron, susan, you don't remember this except you learn it had in school, i will ask you the first question, sometimes a party is on a roll to victory and they just signal something too whacky and scary, like spiro agnew in '70, headed to huge victories in the '70 midterm, the nixon party, agnew sounded crazy and they lost a lot of the race these could have won otherwise. cot republicans suffer from overkill with the tea party crowd? >> i mean, i think they could. on the other hand, you know who would have thought scott brown would have been elected from massachusetts? i think a lot -- midterm elections are largely decided by turnout, get a lot of people to turn out, they can get a lot of republicans electe

during that congress, the 103rd, right here, there were 80 filibusters when senator mathias spoke. remarkably, from 1995 through 2008, the number of filibusters in congress has increased 75%. in the last congress, 110th, there were an astonishing 139 filibusters. in the current, 111th congress, now at its midpoint right now, there have been 74. last year alone, in one year, in 2009, there were 67 filibusters. 67 filibusters in 2009. but from 1950 to 1969, over a 20-year period of time, there were 20 filibusters. in 20 years. last year, 67 in one year alone. so i think this graphically illustrates how perilous this has become for the united states senate. 20 filibusters over 20 years. 67 last year alone. i'd also like to point out that according to a study by ucla professor barbara sinclaire, in the the 1960's just 8% of bills were subject to a filibuster in the 1960's. in the last congress, 70% of bills were subject to a filibuster. it's gotten out of hand. the simple fact is that today rather than an unusual event, the filibuster or threat of a filibuster has become a routine occu

and earlier this morning i attended the funeral of great mac mathias who 30 years of noble service epitomizedr but also what it means to be a citizen. it is a true honor to join you here once again in this historic building, the oldest state capitol in the united states of america. where marylanders have come together, year after year to renew our democracy and to move our state forward. in this place of the people's will, we express our differences of opinion mindful of the fact that all of us gathered here to serve act on behalf of maryland. and there is only one maryland. we are here because we care about people. all people. and to safeguard our children's future we are committed to the work of justice, security, job creation, environmental sustainability, and fiscal responsibility, understanding that progress for one requires progress for all. in times of great adversity, we don't make excuses, we make progress. we set aside partisanship. and embrace the power of citizenship, guided by the values that unite us. our belief in the dig active every individual. -- dignity in every individual.