[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 712 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 712

 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Senate 
 should immediately change its rules and end the ``modern'' filibuster.


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                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 22, 2018

 Mr. Messer (for himself, Mr. Cramer, Mr. Jody B. Hice of Georgia, Mr. 
    Biggs, Ms. Cheney, Mr. Griffith, and Mrs. Black) submitted the 
   following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules

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                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the Senate 
 should immediately change its rules and end the ``modern'' filibuster.

Whereas the Senate rules first allowed the use of the filibuster in 1806 to 
        ensure that the minority party in the Senate was heard and understood 
        before a vote was taken on a particular issue;
Whereas in 1917, the Senate adopted a procedure known as the cloture vote to end 
        a filibuster if a supermajority of Senators voted to end debate;
Whereas in 1975, the Senate created the ``modern'' filibuster when it changed 
        its rules to allow other business to be conducted while a filibuster was 
        underway, eliminating the need for an individual Senator to stand on the 
        Senate floor and make the case to their colleagues and the American 
        people why a specific piece of legislation should not be debated and 
        voted on;
Whereas the filibuster has been used more than 1,300 times since 1917, with 413 
        of those times occurring from 1917-1990 and more than 600 of those times 
        occurring since 1990;
Whereas the modern filibuster is not used to extend debate or stall a vote, but 
        rather to block the Senate's Motion to Proceed, preventing legislation 
        from being debated or voted on at all; and
Whereas during the 115th Congress, the House of Representatives has passed 
        twelve appropriations bills to fund Government agencies for fiscal year 
        2018 but Senate Democrats have blocked each Government funding bill, 
        preventing debate or a vote on a single measure: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the Senate should immediately change its rules to eliminate the modern 
filibuster that has allowed Senators to block debate on and passage of 
legislation, and has prevented the democratic process from working as 
the Founding Fathers intended.
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