senate, end quote. senator byrd shortly before his death. the democratic leader knew how to serve and protect the senate. that democratic leader knew how to serve and protect the senate. this democratic leader wants power so badly he'll misrepresent his own late predecessor if it helps him get it. senator byrd's successor, the current senior senator from west virginia, has eloquently restated the very same points. our colleague, senator manchin, published an op-ed explaining why, quote, there is no circumstance in which i will vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster. senator manchin. he pointed out that finding compromise across party differences and differing regional interests was never supposed to be easy, but it is the work we were elected to do. he noted that current rules guarantee that rural and small states and the americans who live in them always have a seat at the table. our colleague also pointed out that the 60-vote threshold keeps federal law durable and predictable. quote, if the filibuster is eliminated or budget reconcili

the senate. then from the floor senator john thune, lindsey graham, john cornyn and chuck schumer all talk about the issue. together this runs about 90 minutes. >> something disturbing is happening in washington this week. a group of politicians are trying to set aside election results, overrule american voters, and break, break our institutions to get a political outcome they want. i'm speaking of course about the senate democratic leader and the radical left. the senate democratic leader is trying to bully hisrs own membes into breaking their word, breaking the senate and silencing the voices of millions of citizens. so that one political party can take over our nation's elections from the top down. in january 2021, a mob try to intimidate and change the senate, and they failed. in january of 2021, the senate stayed true to itself and it stood strong. but in january of 2022, some of the senates own members want to permanently damage this institution from within. they want to shatter central fea

i had the opportunity to work with three leaders, senator dole, senator lott, and senator frist. you've now worked with senator frist and now senator mcconnell. describe your relationship with senator mcconnell. senator reid: of course, tom, i had the good fortune to work with you. i've worked with mitchell. i've worked with byrd and the three you mentioned, plus mcconnell. i think we would all agree that you and i would agree i should say that george mitchell was just in a league of his own. who could give a better extemporaneous speech than george mitchell? i don't know. he was a fine human being and in my opinion did a great job and senator byrd with the legacies left the country he speaks for himself. i have to say i didn't have a lot of dealings with leader dole but he was always good to me. now trent lott i had a lot of dealing with because i was working under your wing and you gave me complete freedom on the floor, so i made a lot of compromises with senator lott that i would take to you for approval. i found him to be a joy to work with. card-carrying conservative, very p

the senate process. however, we're talking about fundamental structural changes that i believe in spite of your comments that in many states across the country are compromising the ability of our people to express themselves in an democracy. i consider that qualitatively different than a policy difference. and that's why i am here today to talk about revising the rules, not blowing up the filibuster, but to get back to what the filibuster actually means. and that is extended debate. i'm all for extended debate until we're exhausted, until we've made a deal, until we've come to a compromise, but the problem is the filibuster, as we define it today, is a distant cousin of the real filibuster. the radical change in the filibuster isn't what's being discussed to date, it was made in 1975 almost by accident. in 1975 they were debating whether it should be two-thirds of senators present and voting or a lower number. and they compromised on 60 senators of sworn members. that was the focus of that discussion, an

now it's senator schumer's fingers hovering over the nuclear button, ready to destroy the senator for partisan advantage. think about it, the narrowest majority in senate history wants to break the senate rules to control how voters in every state elect senators. could there be a better argument to preserve the senate rules, customs, and traditions? so before it's too late, let us reflect on the wise and eloquent words of senator schumer. words that are as true today as they were when he spoke them. even if senator schumer is singing a different tune today. madam president, i yield the floor. >> madam president. >> the senator from missouri. >> madam president, the senate is designed to be a place where the members of the minority, members of the minority party and the millions of americans they represent are heard. in this senate, the minority couldn't be any bigger. in fact, if the minority was any bigger, we'd be the majority. this is a 50-50 senate and no time to take away the protections that the senate for almost 200 years have afforded to the minority, the considerations given

then senator barack obama said, we congratulate the senate today on their action. he said, the american people sent us here to be their voice. they understand that those voices can at times become loud and argumentative. but they also hope that we can disagree without being disagreeable. then senator barack obama on april 1, 2005, went on to say, what they don't expect is for one party, be it republican or democrat, to change the rules in the middle of the game so that they can make all the decisions while the other party is told to sit down and keep quiet. i ask my colleagues, what were we just told to do today? he went on to say, the american people want partisanship in this town, but everyone in this chamber knows the majority chooses to end the filibuster. if they choose to change the rules and put an end to the democratic debate and the fighting and the bitterness and the gridlock will only get worse. he went on to say, i understand the republicans are getting a lot of pressure to do this from factions outside the chamber, but we need to rise above the ends ju

a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. a senator: mr.resident, and hey, folks, did you hear about the attempt to steal an ele election? ms. ernst: maybe you heard this about a year ago or so, big attempt to steal an election. just last year we had washington insiders colluding to overturn the will of the people in a fair and free election. yes, you heard it right. an attempt to steal an election. but it's probably not the election that you are thinking about. speaker of the house of representatives nancy pelosi attempted to steal a seat in the house, iowa's second district congresswoman won her election in 2020 and was certified by iowa's secretary of state, 24 county auditors of both parties, and the bipartisan state board of canvas. and she is here with me today, representative ma miller meeks. thank you for being here with me today, representative. in a blatant political power grab, the speaker of the house spent over $600,000 of taxpayer money in an attempt to unseat the duly elected congresswoman miller meeks. even some members of t

to the scheduled vote -- l senator blunt, senator klobuchar, senator schumer. the vice president: is there objection? without objection. mr. blunt: madam vice president. the vice president: the senator from missouri. mr. blunt: i was on the floor today and i think i've heard virtually every speech given. i was reminded again of really the broad-based talent of people in the senate. i spent some time a couple of years ago, over a course of about six months kind of watching individual senators and trying to figure out how they got here. and with only a couple of exceptions, i could figure it out. that unique ability to communicate or to explain things in a way that people understood them or appear to just know more than other people knew about things that people knew senators need to know about. and i was reminded again of the tragedy of how little we use that collected talent. there is absolutely no telling what we could do if we decide as 100 people how to figure out how to get to the united states senate how we work together and solve big problems. and i think

. >> senate minority leader mitch mcconnell filed by majority whip dick durbin spoke on the senate floor about efforts this week to pass voting rights legislation by changing the filibuster rule. this is 20 minutes. >> this week on this floor we are poised to witness something that is never happened before in living memory. an attempt to attack the core of the energy of the senate, by a sitting majority leader. senior senator from new york said nuking the filibuster it would turn but the founding fathers called a democracy into a rubberstamp of dictatorship. he said it would make the country into a banana republic. a doomsday for democracy he said. now he was to trigger that doomsday himself. when i was majority leader so my own party urge me t too break the senate on our own party short-term game. might answer it was a single word, no. less than four years ago the senior senator from illinois said nuking a legislative filibuster, quote would be the end of the senate as it was originally devised and created going back to our founding fathers. now he wants the senate to end on his watch.

the senate. he said if the filibuster were eliminated, it would be the end of the senate as it was originally devised and created going back to our founding fathers. but his respect for these traditions, these norms, these rules dissipated when it became a political inconvenience. last year senator durbin, the senator from illinois, said the filibuster has become the death grip of democracy. i'm not sure if he's proud testify now, but senator schumer was also an advocate for the filibuster in the not so distant past. just a few years ago, again when the shoe was on the other foot, democrats were a minority, republicans were a majority, he said we should build a firewall around the filibuster to protect the senate from the winds of short-term electoral change. well, today, for sure, the winds have shifted. the senator who once supported the filibuster now finds himself as the majority leader trying to appease the most radical elements in his political base. where does he stand on the filibuster to

floor and cane senator sumner and senator sumner was injured.he did recover. recovered slowly, served for another 18 years, which leads me to the fact that he proceeded to put forward civil rights legislation in 1875. and in 1875, 150 years ago -- almost 150 years ago, 145 years ago. and so he argued, after the civil war, that our black americans were being discriminated against and it needed to end. that anyone should go into any public accommodation and be treated equally here in the united states of america, a constitution that says all men, and that includes women, are created equally. and so he put forward this bill and it said that every person gets equal access to theaters, to public schools, to churches, to cemeteries, equal opportunity to serve in jury duty, and that any suits brought in this regard would be tried this federal court, not state court so we could enforce a federal standard of nondiscrimination across this land. now, sumner died of a heart attack in 1874. so he had put forward this originally as an amendment -- actually an

the senate will friend. i do not think it will look as different as some people might expect. i do not think we will necessarily see kind of wild swings back in forth of a policy, based on who is in the majority. mary: you have thoughts on that? niels: i agree with molly. i think the question would be to some extent, where the senators, from in each caucus, right? the way the country is divided in the fact that there is too senators from every state, means that if you are going to have a republican majority in the senate, you are probably going to have a couple of republicans from new england. if you're going to have a democratic majority in the senate, you are probably going to have a democratic from west virginia, montana, maybe from the dakotas at some point. , like were long dead. the -- long did. it is really hard to get a clear majority of senators from all of sort of the same states. so, it strikes me as not impossible on some issues, some issues which you certainly unlikely that any senator who wante

senate is about.anged over the years over and over again. it is the best efforts of politicians in this chamber in their day to write a rule that establishes a minimum vote. and what does it mean to us? well, it means a lot. in a senate that's divided 50-50, 50 republicans, and 50 democrats, it means that there are measures which require 60 votes. that used to be a rare occurrence in this body that someone would invoke a filibuster. and yet now it's become virtually commonplace. if you just look at the last five or ten years, you can see a change in the senate, a dramatic orchestrated change in the senate. what was uncommon requiring 60 votes for a measure has now become the standard. and of course what that means is very few things come to the floor of the senate. when the republicans were in control just a few years ago during the course of an entire calendar year on the senate floor we voted for 26 amendments. 26. in the normal history of the senate, hundreds of amendments are voted in the course o

working principally with the senator from indiana, senator young, and others of us. one important part of that bill that i worked on with the senator from virginia, a democrat, the senior senator from virginia, senator warner, was funding for programs created by the chips act. it actually became law last year, but we had to find a way to pay for it, and the senate stepped upped and did so. and now we're hoping that the house will follow suit. as crushes learned over this -- as consumers learned over this last year, actually covid-19 exposed our vulnerability tore supply chains from overseas. we saw that first with personal protective equipment. most of which, virtually all of which, was made in china and when we needed it here, well, we had to try to get it overseas from china to the united states so that it could protect our healthcare heroes, our front line healthcare providers, among others. but we learned that the vulnerabilities of our supply chains did not stop with p.p.e. semiconductor shortages, for example, have a very real and dramatic impact on all of our

a senator: mr. president. the president pro tempore: the senator from arkansas. mr. cotton: inflation is at its highest level in 40 years, drug overdose deaths at record levels, the murder rate at the highest since the 1990's. and the president of the united states just green lighted vladimir putin to invade and china is continuing aggression. so what have the democratic floor leader and senate democrats spent the last two months doing? trying to overturn 200 years of senate rules and customs so that they can do things like ban voter i.d. nationwide and use your tax dollars to support political campaigns. they tell us that americans are living under jim crow 2.0, and they cite the recent georgia election law as proof. let's investigate this so-called vote suppression law. under the new law, the state of georgia will have 17 days of early voting. if this is jim crow 2.0, then i have bad news, because the democratic leader's home state of new york and the president's home state of delaware were engage

you've heard of some of my colleagues reference a letter senator collins santa senator and senator kunzled to several . when i was first in the senate i watched the majority and the executive filibuster on judicial nominations, and i remembered what so many of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle said during that debate, how we didn't need the filibuster. so i questioned their sincerity. i hate to say it, but i think my questions for them really prove to be true. they said we had the opportunity to end the filibuster when we had the white house and the senate, and we didn't do that. we kept our word on it. the people who signed the letter kept their word on it, the republicans, so we didn't see that from our colleagues. because this is the senate and not the house and referencing not changing the filibuster. there need to be more checks and balances. things should take longer. there should be required consensus which is one of the reasons because of the 60 vote requirement that requires us to talk to each other, to be more attuned to other perspectives. i like that maisie hirono. i

and senator sinema. all indications are that they still believe the senate is an institution that is important and doesn't need to be turned into the house or broken. >> chuck schumer and democratic leadership talk to the press about the parties legislative agenda. possible rule changes to the senate particularly to the filibuster. sen. schumer: we are waiting for senator warnock. i hope he is not in the chair. does anyone mind if i take off my mask to speak?

the senators would have zero impact. they might as well not even show up if they reject the power grab. the republican-controlled senate could pass the laws to protect the right to life, secure the border, expand and enhance second amendment rights under the constitution and much, much more. if that were to happen, would democrats stand by the rules change they are debating and advocating for today, would they stand by the decision to silence the minority party and the minority senators, would they agree with the statement led to the majority prevail. we don't have to wonder because we've seen this movie before. our colleagues have expressed regrets over the carveout and they advocate for the filibuster to be maintained and startedta chipping away at it just eight years later. 2013, democrats eliminated a 60j vote threshold for judicial nominees and the move has haunted them for nearly a decade resulted in the confirmation of three supreme court justices during the term of office. back then when they invoked the nuclear

senate. it could be argued it's the most important day in the history of the senate as an institution. this very day that we are just wrapping up is in all likelihood the most important day in the history of the senate as an institution. this evening fewer than 60 senators voted to advance a piece of legislation so it didn't move forward. it's pretty common around here. it happens frequently. in fact, it happened less than a week ago, as we know, when our democratic colleagues used the 60-vote threshold to block sanctions against putin's pipeline. in 2020, the democrats used the filibuster multiple times to delay the cares act, killed senator tim scott's police reform bill, blocked bipartisan protections for unborn children. senate minorities can apply the breaks to small majorities. senate minorities can apply the brakes to small majorities. this institution makes major changes earned major -- this institution requires that major changes receive major buy-in. for decades, americans on all si

about the institutions of the senate, traditions of the senate, the rules of the senate, the precedence of the senate, and why we are duty-bound to follow them. but i but i couldn't get the out of my mind as he spoke. the image of that news that came to us one day the supreme court justice antonin scalia had tragically passed away. and we all remember what happened next. it was the same republican leader who sent the word out to his republican members, don't even entertain the possibility that president obama is going to fill the vacancy on the supreme court. we are going to keep this vacancy open in the hopes that we can elect a republican president to fill it. now, that was eight months at least, maybe ten months before the election. and it was a first time in history of the united states that a republican leader of the senate used his power to browbeat his members not even to meet with merrick garland, the president nominee, president obama's nominee. they wouldn't even entertain an office meeting with him to discuss it. it was out of the question. the supreme court was going to eigh

what is the senate about, that's what senator thune was just addressing, what is the senate about? we come here to represent the people of our state, and we come here to make decisions and to vote. i don't think anyone in our state wants us to come here and hold an archaic tradition and then to simply stop votes, stop debates, hold the tradition tied and then throw the voters under the desk and go home and raise money because basically, that's what this tradition has turned into. i believe what our founding fathers wanted when it became clear that this country was forwarded, they wanted to have a senate that worked and when you go back and look there is no mention about the filibuster in the constitution. there is no mention of 60 votes. there is no mention of closure. rules developed over time and believe it or not, to my friend from south dakota, those rules change with of the time. in the words of senator byrd, someone who believed in these traditions of this place, the rules change with the circumstances and in the words of the constitution which the senator from south dakota f

as former democratic senator a true giant of the senate put it when arguing against a similar threat in 2013. if the majority can change the rules of the senate, there are no rules except the transient unregulated wishes of the majority of whatever is temporarily in control of the senate. both senators levin and vanderburg favored this being considered at the time to recognize to change the rules and fuss our country. democrats understand the consequences of what they are proposing. senator chris coons and i wrote a letter urging to preserve the 60 6 vote threshold through legislation. it was signed by 61 senators, 28 republicans, 32 democrats and one independent. this total not only represented a majority of senators, but also a majority of the republican caucus, majority of the democratic caucus and the current biden president. how well i remember seeking signatures, holding a green folder with the letter inside. i approached senators from both sides of the aisle to achieve my goal of the 60 senators signing, representing a majority of the caucus. mr. president, not a single senato

this is not the senate when you were in the senate, not even the senate when you were in the vice presidency even talked to me about the talking filibuster, but is it a fix, ron brownstein? >> first of all, i think the president has been second guessing himself on the decision to defer focusing on voting rights until after he thought he could pass his economic plan by thanksgiving and he didn't want to complicate or roil the waters with joe manchin by pressing him on the filibuster as well. it is not clear it would have made any difference. joe manchin and kyrsten sinema have centered their political identity on being democrats who say no to other democrats, that it is not clear anything biden could have said or done could have changed their position. don, this is a hinge point in the history of the country because if you look at the republican supreme court majority it is clear they're not going to impose any meaningful restrictions on how far the states can go in making it tougher to vote. if you look at the recent history of the last 50 years, it has been really hard for either party to s

senate, end quote. senator byrd shortly before his death. the democratic leader knew how to serve and protect the senate. that democratic leader knew how to serve and protect the senate. this democratic leader wants power so badly he'll misrepresent his own late predecessor if it helps him get it. senator byrd's successor, the current senior senator from west virginia, has eloquently restated the very same points. our colleague, senator manchin, published an op-ed explaining why, quote, there is no circumstance in which i will vote to eliminate or weaken the filibuster. senator manchin. he pointed out that finding compromise across party differences and differing regional interests was never supposed to be easy, but it is the work we were elected to do. he noted that current rules guarantee that rural and small states and the americans who live in them always have a seat at the table. our colleague also pointed out that the 60-vote threshold keeps federal law durable and predictable. quote, if the filibuster is eliminated or budget reconcili

sinema and senator manchin. obviously with a 50-50 senate, you need every single democratic vote. that has been around for a while , but has been basically used every single congress now. the other thing that it is always available in this round, particularly when there is a change in administration. i am reluctant to be the first one to bring it up because of all of the other panelist here. the you act could be used to nullify relic galatians -- two nullify regulations. it could be used to put in a practical matter, it is used when there is a switch in party control. to your point, mary, about the, what is going on now. there was an effort recently to try and -- filibuster into do it, in order to advance voting rights legislation. the john lewis voting rights acts. it is a package of election law measures. the effort that schumer attempts , the majority leader attempted, would have sort of, the tool available under rule 19, which is you are only allowed, if you're a senator, you are allowed beaches on any parti

chair brown: senator kennedy of louisiana connected. senator kennedy: mr. chairman, congratulations. i think it's fair to say that you are and once you are confirmed will continue to be one of the most powerful people in the world. i want to begin today, i have some questions, but first i have a plea. above all else, above everybody else on your plate, i ask that you please preserve the independence of the federal reserve. the last thing that america needs right now is to have the federal reserve politicized. it's the last thing the world needs right now. and believe me, the whole world is watching. including our enemies. now, i get it. our politics is polarized. i hope you'll remain blissfully ignorant of that. i get it. i'm not telling you not to listen to elected officials, public officials. i get it. i can only speak for the senate. we have some very smart people in the senate. they have strong opinions and strong personalities. we've got a few senators that to paraphrase dave berry, think out of the hamilton style musical about their lives. i get all t

proposed rule changes would allow the senate to end filibuster after senators given up the fork wouldy simple majority felt. since that would change 60 felt threshold, democratic senators joe manchin and kyrsten sinema continue to oppose it. we expect vote on this tomorrow, which would include schumer and others spoke to the press for about half an hour. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> good afternoon, everyone i'm delighted to be joined by senators gavin out and global charter merkley and kane and warnock and booker and padilla. there he is, good. they are not all or do speak, some of us are. for the first time, this is the very first time today congress has been debating a bill to protect voting rights on the senate floor on the freedom to both act and john r lewis voting rights advancement. win, lose or draw, members of this chamber were elected to debate", when, lose or draw we are going to vote especially on an issue that is vital to the beating heart of our democracy and voting rights. democrats have tried for months to hold a voting rights debate on the fl

serving in the senate today.rofessors jillani cobb and eddie glob join us next. cobb a cobb a eddie glob join us next. dove precisely repairs so there are almost no signs... of visible damage. dove intensive repair. number one beauty brand not tested on animals. dovmy daughter hasair. type 2 diabetes and lately i've seen this change in her. once-weekly trulicity is proven to help lower a1c. it lowers blood sugar from the first dose. and you could lose up to ten pounds. trulicity is for type 2 diabetes. it isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. it's not approved for use in children. don't take trulicity if you're allergic to it, you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, changes in vision, or diabetic retinopathy. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. taking trulicity with sulfonylurea or insulin raises low blood

the senate. he said if the filibuster were eliminated, it would be the end of the senate as it was originally devised and created going back to our founding fathers. but his respect for these traditions, these norms, these rules dissipated when it became a political inconvenience. last year senator durbin, the senator from illinois, said the filibuster has become the death grip of democracy. i'm not sure if he's proud testify now, but senator schumer was also an advocate for the filibuster in the not so distant past. just a few years ago, again when the shoe was on the other foot, democrats were a minority, republicans were a majority, he said we should build a firewall around the filibuster to protect the senate from the winds of short-term electoral change. well, today, for sure, the winds have shifted. the senator who once supported the filibuster now finds himself as the majority leader trying to appease the most radical elements in his political base. where does he stand on the filibuster to

just recently senator schumer and senator mcconnell raise the debt ceiling.u do not break the rules to do that. you work it out, which is the leadership's responsibility. the need to discern our own rulebook. we have talked about how many times the roles of been changed. we do not make the rules to change the rules. but all of the sudden now we cannot do it anymore. the rulebook means that the rule changes are done on bipartisan consensus not imposed on the minority but brought majority power no matter who was in power. the majority does not have the power to do that in the senate. now my colleagues propose this process, they would use the nuclear option to override a rule that we have used ourselves but now seem to find unacceptable. unacceptable now. we will break the rules to change the rules and makeup new rules as we go along. no rule of the senate can withstand the act of the majority. no rule will stand the willful majority. let this change happened in this way and the senate will be a body without rules. there will be no rules. the senate's greatest r

senate comes in. there will be a new congress. i hope at that point that the senate -- i will not be here for it -- but i hope the senate will take the next step of cutting down on the blatant use of the filibuster on legislation. if the action just taken here today -- of the action just taken here today, here's what i predict. i predict the sky will not fall, the oceans will not dry up, a plague of locusts will not cover the earth, and the vast majority of americans will go on with their lives as before. but i do predict that our government will work better. a president will be able to form an executive branch. our judiciary will function better. and the u.s. senate will be able to move qualified nominees through the senate and a more responsible manner. -- in a more responsible manner. this is a good day for the senate, a good day for our nation. the senate now enters that when he first century. again, i congratulate leader reid for bringing the senate forward, a courageous action. i complement all

floor and cane senator sumner and senator sumner was injured.he did recover. recovered slowly, served for another 18 years, which leads me to the fact that he proceeded to put forward civil rights legislation in 1875. and in 1875, 150 years ago -- almost 150 years ago, 145 years ago. and so he argued, after the civil war, that our black americans were being discriminated against and it needed to end. that anyone should go into any public accommodation and be treated equally here in the united states of america, a constitution that says all men, and that includes women, are created equally. and so he put forward this bill and it said that every person gets equal access to theaters, to public schools, to churches, to cemeteries, equal opportunity to serve in jury duty, and that any suits brought in this regard would be tried this federal court, not state court so we could enforce a federal standard of nondiscrimination across this land. now, sumner died of a heart attack in 1874. so he had put forward this originally as an amendment -- actually an

senate to discuss it.this is just beyond unacceptable in a republic the legislative body can even start the build start entertaining amendments. so here we are, looking at the perversion of something and at the best format was the ability to hold an extended discussion so every voice in the senate could be heard. there's a leverage to seek a compromise parade there is a leverage to seek amendments. it has into a veto that the minority in america make the decisions not the majority. we need to restore the vision of extended debate or every senator is heard but no senator has a veto, so we can address the most important issue and the republic, protection of the ballot box. [inaudible] [laughter] >> thank you leader schumer. i think all of you for joining us today. in each one of you, i hope you are okay. that it is o okay to not be oka. this thursday is a harsh anniversary. one year, not just a violence, but a deadly insurrection here in the nation's capitol. center klobuchar said, the violence and damage di

senate in order to change the rules of the senate. and over what? over what? over a court that doesn't even have enough work to do? millions of americans are hurting because of a law washington democrats forced upon them, and what do they do about it? they cook up some fake fight over judges. a fake fight over judges that aren't even needed. look, i get it. as i indicated, i want to be talking about something else too if i had to defend dogs getting insurance while millions of americans lost theirs. but it won't work. and the parallels between this latest skirmish and the original obamacare push are just too obvious to ignore. think about it. just think about it. the majority leader promised , he promised over and over again that he wouldn't break the rules of the senate in order to change them. this is not an ancient promise. july 14 on "meet the press," he said we're not touching judges. this year, july 14, "meet the press," we're not touching judges. then there are the double standards. when democrats were in the minority, they arg

the senate filibuster. 's attempt to federalize our voting system is just an excuse to give democrats the power in the united states senate. as you heard time and again the senate is different than the house. the senate is here as the saucer for the teacup. can help the tea cool and we need that because we have certainly seen a hot mess coming over from the house. what we don't need in the united states congress is another house of representatives. >> the thing everybody says to me, they can't believe dc works this way. we don't pass budgets, we have a democrat party that wants to spend every dime they can. they don't care that we have unbelievable inflation. the food prices or housing prices are up and shocked this place is so dysfunctional. they are shocked the democrats want critical race theory and defund the police. every republican i know this year are going to focus on why the democrats have caused this inflation and gas prices to go up, food prices to go, rent prices to go up, why parents involved i

break the senate." >> it appears as if the majority leader is hell-bent to break the senate. his argument is that somehow state legislators across the country are busily at work trying to make it more difficult for people to vote. of course that is not happening. anywhere. 94% of americans believe it is easier to vote. we had a record turnout last year. the biggest turn out since 1900. it is already against the law to prevent people from voting based upon race. the voting rights act is still intact. it is appropriate to ask the question, what is going on? there has been a lot of talk about big lies, well the big lie on the other is that state legislatures controlled by republicans are busily at work trying to make it difficult for people to vote. if you actually read the legislations that have been passed, that is clearly not the case. i think this is an excuse to try to break the senate. hypocrisy is not unheard of in politics. but about half the current members of the democratic party, when donald trump was president, believed that the legislative filibuster was the essence

chairman. >> thank you, senator markey. senator baldwin? >> so i -- sorry i missed just a segment as i wen over to vote and it may have come up because this is work i did with senator klobuchar. but i joined senators klobuchar and caputo in writing to metaphor more information about how instagram is combatting eating disorder content and the harms it brings to users, particularly young people. in response to our question about how the platform is working to remove this content, meta indicated that it uses a combination -- i am quoting now from the letter -- a combination of reports from our community, human review, and artificial intelligence, close quote, to find and take down material that violates your terms of service. the response further notes there are more than 15,000 human reviewers on staff. i also met with frances haugen the former facebook employee whose disclosures spurred this series of hearings. and when i asked her about what more instagram could do to remove content like this glorifying eating disorders, she argued that mor

is the senate working now? can anyone say the senate is working now? i don't think so. today, democrats and independents are saying enough is enough. change the rule regarding presidential nominees will apply equally to both parties. when republicans are in power, the changes will apply to them just as well. that is simple fairness. and it is something both sides should be willing to live with.

senate. of course, being able to keep control and keep his 60 democrats together in order to pass the affordable care act which is signature legislation for not only president obama but senator reid as well. we'll also hear a lot about how -- as you mentioned, he went from humble beginnings to the most powerful senator. he grew up in searchlight, a small mining town where he had no running water as a kid. he had to hitchhike to high school because there was no high school in his town. he had to go to henderson, nevada 40 miles away. this will be a very emotional tribute today for someone that many of these people in this room knew personally and worked with. >> and his remains being walked into the rotunda now. let's listen. >>> we're going to be hearing from senator schumer along with house speaker nancy pelosi. you worked so closely with the late senator. we know his legacy that he has left on the senate. what are you thinking right now? not only of his legally -- legacy, but who he was as

senate. the clerk: washington, d.c., january 3, 2022. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable tammy baldwin, a senator from the state of wisconsin, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: patrick j. leahy, president pro tempore. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. under the previous order, the senate will be in period of morning business with senators permitted to speak therein for up it ten minutes each. the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. leahy: madam president? the presiding officer: the senior senator from vermont. mr. leahy: i ask that the quorum be suspended with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. leahy: madam president, i had hoped to be opening this new session as president pro tempore, but i couldn't manage anybody who is better suited to be the acting president pro tempore than the distinguished senator from wisconsin, and i

senator mcconnell came to the floor and said he supports senator cruise's proposal.he expects the biden administration will waive the sanctions . so then why are we engaging in this in the first place if republicans are going to support the waving of the sanctions . because the sanctions would interrupt our negotiations with germany, why pass the bill in the first place? apparently many republicans are supporting the cruz bill that are going to be asking the bidenadministration about implementation . thatdoesn't seem to make a lot of sense . the primary impact is to divide us from germany. what is that? we know the only way to stop nordstream 2 is by convincing the germans and other europeans to stop the project . we have for the first time since we began talking to the germans about this convinced them to press ppause. first time german government has decided to press pause through the regulatory agencies. they have stopped the certification of the pipeline which by the way is built. it was 95 percent built when president trump left office. he let it be constructed.

senate. that is the last thing that should be done in the senate. president biden himself has argued against eliminating the filibuster, and according to a recent report democrats used that filibuster over 300 times in 2020. in 2005, then senator joe biden gave a passionate floor speech defending the senate filibuster, saying that this is a key procedural tool and ending it would eviscerate the senate and do a disservice to the country and would upset the constitutional design. in another floor speech, then senator biden further argued the reason republicans in congress were attempting to end the filibuster was because they controlled every level of government. he went on to point out that the reason to have the filibuster rule was so that when one party controls all levers of government one man or one woman can stand on the floor of the senate and resist the passions of the moment. again, in 2005, senator chuck schumer also said that eliminating the filibuster would be a doomsday for democra

manchin and senator sinema. it obviously as we do talk to them. all indications are they still believe the senate as an institution is important and does not need to be turned into the house. or to put it another way it does not need to be broken. [background noises] [background noises] >> of this week on c-span, when say the senate rules committee holds a hearing on u.s. capitol police since they generate sixth attacker. live coverage begins at 10:00 a.m. eastern. thursday beginning at 7:00 a.m. there will be coverage throughout the day marking the one-year anniversary of the attack. supreme court his oral argument in two cases dealing with the biden administration vaccine mandate for healthcare workers and vaccine test mandate for larger climate companies. live coverage begins at 10:00 a.m. house and senate return in january for the start of the second session of the 1117th congress. social spending plant known as "build back better" despite west virginia democrats and unannounced opposition to the bill. senat