[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 62 (Thursday, May 12, 2005)]
[House]
[Page H3201]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       ABUSE OF POWER IN CONGRESS

  (Mr. INSLEE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. INSLEE. Mr. Speaker, the long string of abuse of power is 
continuing in the U.S. Congress, most unfortunately. The most recent of 
this long string of abuses of power is we will see an attempt in the 
U.S. Senate next week to strip Americans of a protection, a protection 
against the tyranny of the majority, by eliminating the long, 2-
century-long right to a filibuster in the United States Senate, a 
bastion of democracy.
  We already have one House of Representatives. We do not need another 
one. We need the ability to have the checks and balances in the U.S. 
Senate. And this is not a matter of academic pursuit.
  Last night, I was in the Mall walking quite late at night and I saw a 
group of folks from New Jersey who had driven all the way down from New 
Jersey and at this moment are filibustering on the Mall against the 
efforts in the Senate to remove this basic checks and balances. They 
drove what they called the ``Filibus.'' Well, we should not have to 
have a ``Filibus'' to stand up for the American concept of checks and 
balances. These abuses of power should stop. The U.S. Senate should 
maintain this American tradition of a filibuster for the right time and 
for the right reasons.

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