[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 186 (Thursday, December 6, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14831-S14834]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              FILIBUSTERS

  Ms. STABENOW. Mr. President, I come to the floor today with great 
concern and frustration, as I know my colleagues in the majority feel, 
about the

[[Page S14832]]

fact that as we continue to work hard to make the changes our American 
families wanted to happen to improve their lives, we are stopped over 
and over and over again.
  I have a running chart, as my colleagues know. As of this afternoon, 
we are now up to 57 Republican filibusters. Tomorrow, we will be voting 
on cloture again, and it will then be 58 and then 59.
  So we find ourselves in a situation that is, first of all, historic 
in that the top number of filibusters ever recorded in the Senate for a 
2-year session is 61; 61 times there were filibusters within a 2-year 
period. Now, in less than a year--and we are not even done--we will 
probably hit 61 before we leave. But we are at 57 times that the 
Republicans have filibustered to stop us from making progress, from 
solving problems, from getting things done that the American people, 
American families are desperate to have done.
  We look at the fact that we have tried to change the children's 
health care policy to cover 10 million children in this country--in 
that case, we have bipartisan support, and that is the way we ought to 
operate. The children's health care plan is an example of the way we 
ought to work together. I commend my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle. In that case, we have the President doing the blocking. So when 
we talk about children's health insurance, our colleagues on the other 
side of the aisle got a lot of pressure for working with us and doing 
the right thing, to add 10 million more children to be able to receive 
health insurance. Working families who are working one, two, and three 
jobs don't have health insurance. But we have worked together. Even 
though we could override the Presidential veto here, they could not get 
enough Republican votes in the House. We want to get children's health 
insurance done.
  We have been working very hard and have a majority of Members to 
change the policy in Iraq, to get our brave men and women out of the 
middle of a civil war, and to be able to change the policy to one that 
will directly affect the threats facing Americans, to address what we 
ought to be doing in the world to keep us safe, change that policy, 
redeploy, bring our people home and out of harm's way, out of a civil 
war. We have a majority of Members who voted with us to do that. But we 
could not get that policy done--we have not yet, but we are going to 
keep trying; we are not stopping.
  But filibusters over and over again have blocked us from making the 
change we need in Iraq--troop rotations, protecting our troops, and 
being able to make sure that if they are deployed for 12 months, they 
can have 12 months at home and be able to rest and see their families 
and have retraining. Senator Webb brought forward an amendment that 
says to our troops: We understand what is happening, and if we are 
sending you on one deployment and two and three redeployments, we ought 
to be following the current military policy of having the same number 
of days at home as we have you in harm's way in the theater.
  We have a majority of the votes. We have a substantial majority of 
votes--56 votes or 57 votes--to change the policy to support our 
troops. Yet we have filibuster after filibuster after filibuster, 
taking 60 votes to stop. We have not had enough Republican colleagues 
join with us to stop those filibusters. Tomorrow, we are going to vote 
on whether to end a filibuster.
  I am amazed, as a member of the Agriculture Committee--and proudly a 
member. When everybody thinks of Michigan, they think of automobiles, 
and we are proud of that, too, but our No. 2 industry is agriculture. I 
am very proud to have worked with colleagues in a bipartisan way to 
have a bill developed that is terrific for Michigan. It provides not 
only support for traditional commodities and agriculture, but it moves 
us to alternative energy. We want to be saying in Michigan: Buy your 
fuel from Middle America, not the Middle East.
  The Agriculture Committee put forward a farm bill that moves us in 
that direction. It addresses nutrition and more opportunities for 
children in schools to have fresh fruits and vegetables, conservation--
there are provisions in there that affect the Great Lakes which I am 
proud to have included. We have fruits and vegetables, for the first 
time, recognized as half of the crops we grow as a permanent part of 
the farm bill. You would think people would be raring to go to pass 
this new policy that improves or provides reforms and moves us in a 
direction to reflect a better future for rural America and fuel 
security.
  This is our third week at least that we have seen filibustering of 
the farm bill. Tomorrow, we will have a vote on whether that filibuster 
will end. We will see what happens and whether we will go from 57 
filibusters to 58 and then 59 on the Energy bill. The reality is that 
we have important work to do to support rural communities in Michigan 
and across the country, to address energy needs, alternative fuels, 
biofuels, to address nutrition for our children and families, to 
support traditional agriculture that is working very hard and providing 
us with the food we need, the food security we need for this country. 
This farm bill does that.
  I applaud our chairman, Senator Harkin, for his efforts, and all 
those involved, including Senators Conrad and Chambliss and all who 
have worked together on a bipartisan basis. Even though we have a 
bipartisan basis, unanimous support in the committee, we come to the 
floor one more time.
  The big strategy on the Republican side is to just stop change, stop, 
stop, stop, block anything from happening. What we are seeing--I am 
assuming it is pretty clear what the strategy is--is the White House 
working with the leadership on the other side of the aisle to make sure 
we cannot get things done for the American people, stopping us from 
moving forward. It is also clear that, hopefully, after next year's 
election, we will have a few more folks on this side of the aisle so we 
can move forward on those things we have had trouble moving forward on 
right now. They are certainly making the case for more change and more 
additions to the majority in this process.
  We have also seen another critical area that we are all reading about 
and hearing about from constituents--certainly, I talk to people every 
single weekend when I go home, as well as during the week here--and 
that is the question of the mortgage crisis, what is happening in the 
housing industry, not just the subprime but in the prime housing 
market, and what is happening across the country. We see the White 
House is finally engaged, and we are glad to see that. We hear that we 
need to take action, and we have a tax issue I sponsored to make sure 
folks not only don't lose their home but don't get a tax bill on top of 
it. But we hear from Secretary Paulson and others that the FHA is 
important--FHA modernization, passed by the House--an important part of 
getting more capital in the marketplace.
  We have too many families now who have lost or will lose their homes. 
For most families, middle-income families who buy a house try to get it 
in a spot where they can have good schools. For most families, the 
equity in their homes is their primary savings.
  We hear that FHA modernization is important to do. Our leader, 
Majority Leader Reid, came to the floor a couple of weeks ago and asked 
unanimous consent to go to that FHA modernization bill which the 
administration says they support and they are urging us to pass. It has 
passed in the House. Yet when our leader comes to the floor, 
recognizing as he does that he represents a

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State heavily hit as well on the question of foreclosures, and asks 
unanimous consent and one more time, the leader on the Republican side 
objects.
  All we see are efforts to stop changes that are critically important 
for the families of America, the economy of America, the businesses of 
America to make sure we can keep the middle class of this country and 
keep the middle-class American dream alive. That is what we are all 
about.
  I thought it was stunning yesterday when, again, the Republican 
leader came to the floor saying nothing is getting done, nothing is 
getting done. Then Senator Murray, who chairs so ably our 
Transportation and Housing Appropriations Subcommittee, asked unanimous 
consent to take up this critical bill that relates to infrastructure. 
We have bridges in Minnesota and other places around the country--we 
certainly have all seen the pictures from Minnesota, what happened in 
Minneapolis with the bridge collapse. Certainly that would be a 
priority. I know it certainly has been a priority for Senator 
Klobuchar, who has spoken eloquently and has made sure there are 
resources and help for her State. One would think that after a long 
speech about how nothing was happening in the Senate that our 
Republican colleagues would welcome Senator Murray coming to the floor 
to move forward on this important bill, written in a bipartisan way, 
passed by the Senate to bring forward the conference committee report 
on housing and transportation, a bill that includes dollars, again, 
that the administration says they want and support--$200 million for 
education and for consumer outreach to help those who are in bad loan 
situations, who face resets or foreclosures next year, to have the 
opportunity to sit down and work out a different mortgage situation to 
refinance.
  I applaud Secretary Paulson for setting up a 1-800 number and wanting 
to reach out to help those families. We have $200 million in our budget 
which the administration says they support. Yet when Senator Murray 
comes to the floor as chair of that effort, again what do we hear? ``I 
object, Mr. President.'' ``I object, Mr. President.''
  One more time, we are in the middle of a mortgage crisis, affecting 
not only our families, not only middle-class Americans all over the 
country, but it is now rippling out to the entire economy. Yet when our 
leader comes to the floor, when our leader asks to move forward on 
those issues that we can do together now, we get: ``I object, Mr. 
President.'' We get another filibuster.
  I don't know who is advising the White House and the Republican 
leadership on this strategy, but sooner or later this is going to catch 
up with them when they are objecting to the changes that are needed to 
improve the lives of middle-class Americans, whether it be help in a 
mortgage crisis, whether it be children's health insurance, whether it 
be helping rural America in addressing our alternative energy needs, a 
farm bill, whether it be supporting our troops, changing the policy in 
Iraq--I could go on and on.
  I should mention we are finding the same thing as it relates to 
trying to get a budget for this coming year to stop a cut in physician 
payments through Medicare which we have to get done.
  Our chairman of the Finance Committee is leading this effort and is 
strongly committed to fixing this policy that would provide cuts and 
wanting to advocate we not do it just for next year but 2 years, as 
well as a number of other things we need to do with Medicare. We are 
struggling right now to make that happen.
  On the appropriations front--and this is stunning to me--we see a 
situation where on the one hand, the administration is willing to spend 
$12 billion a month and counting in Iraq, not paid for, going right on 
to the deficit. I have a beautiful new granddaughter, my first 
grandchild, and she is going to help pay for that deficit. All the kids 
being born today will help pay for that huge deficit that has been 
created. And that is OK, according to the administration, that is OK. 
They want more money and they do not pay for it, do not budget for it--
more money. But when we put forward a modest 2-percent increase in 
investments for America, to restore some of the cuts that the President 
has made in community policing or in health research, education 
funding, in those items that invest in American families, American 
communities, just a 2-percent increase, the President says: No, too 
much. He is willing to take us to the brink of a Government shutdown, 
but a 2-percent increase for America? Too much. Mr. President, $12 
billion a month in Iraq, not paid for--paid for by our kids and 
grandkids that is OK.
  We find ourselves once again with filibuster, filibuster, filibuster 
on the Republican side, stopping us. Now we are back saying: OK, in 
order to get appropriations done for this year, we will split the 
difference. Instead of a 2-percent investment increase for American 
communities and families, we will say 1 percent, which is less than we 
spend in Iraq, $11 billion less than we spend in 1 month in Iraq, and 
we hear that is also not supported.
  It is time we focus on what needs to be done to make sure those 
working hard every day, who care about their families, who want to make 
sure they have a job, have health care, and have the great American 
dream, send the kids to college, have the support they need. That is 
what we are about. That is what we are about--fighting for those folks 
who work hard every day who care about their kids. They want to see a 
change from what has been happening, and that is what we are fighting 
for.
  I close indicating there is good news. I see my wonderful colleague 
from Rhode Island, who has been a champion for us as it relates to 
changing the policy in Iraq and supporting our troops. This must be a 
``Rhode Island moment'' because we have the distinguished junior 
Senator from Rhode Island presiding, of whom we are so proud. I see his 
senior colleague here as well.
  In conclusion, I paint a very bleak picture, a very frustrating 
picture, and we feel it every day. Nobody feels it more than our 
leader, who is laser focused on getting through all of this obstruction 
to get things done for the American people.
  But the good news is, in spite of 57 filibusters, we have gotten 
things done, and we will continue to get things done. It may take twice 
as long. It may take 100 filibusters, it may take 150 filibusters, but 
we are not going to stop because what is at stake is our American way 
of life. What is at stake is the ability for families to enjoy the 
American dream.

  We have raised the minimum wage for the first time in a decade for 
our families. We have made college more affordable by passing the 
largest student financial aid package since the GI bill. My dad went to 
school after World War II on the GI bill, and I know he would not have 
been able to go to school without it.
  I am proud that on our watch in this new majority we have put in 
place changes that will allow more young people to have that American 
dream, to be able to go to college, and to be able to come out of 
college without the kind of debt that weighs one down for years and 
years. We want to help them with that.
  We passed finally on our watch--and this happened quickly; it has not 
happened since 2001, but on our watch, we passed the 9/11 
recommendations, to focus on the real threats, to keep us safe. I am 
proud of the fact that a provision I have been very involved in, making 
sure radios work, radio interoperability, has been included so we can 
support our police and firefighters, so they can talk to each other, so 
we do not have again a situation where brave first responders are 
running into buildings, running into towers they should have been 
running out of. We got that done.
  We passed a very important water resources bill that has been 
languishing here for years. Coming from a Great Lakes State, this is 
important to us. I commend Senator Boxer and all of those who worked, 
again, on a wonderful bipartisan basis--she and Senator Inhofe--in 
putting that bill together.
  In the Judiciary Committee, sometimes we do business that is not 
legislative, it is oversight. We have done a lot of oversight on Iraq 
policy, on no-bid contracts, on Blackwater, and private contracting, in 
many areas where there had been no oversight for years. Our people have 
aggressively, as chairs of the committees, been doing oversight.
  One area that has resulted in change that was needed were the 
hearings with

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the former Attorney General that focused on the fact that our U.S. 
attorneys did not have the independence they needed. They were being 
used politically. The change occurred when the Attorney General was 
forced to step down. We have made a major step forward in preserving 
the independence of the U.S. attorneys.
  There are numerous other issues I could mention, and I will not. 
Suffice to say, we are getting business done. We are getting results 
for middle-class Americans every day. Evidently, all of our hard-
working results have raised a red flag down at the other end of 
Pennsylvania Avenue. They said: Whoa, whoa, whoa, you are making too 
many good things happen, too many changes happen that families are 
going to like, that American people are going to like. We better slow 
this thing down.
  So now we are in a situation where even those efforts we have worked 
on in good faith on a bipartisan basis--that is what we do here. We 
cannot get anything done if we don't work together, people of good 
faith working together. Even those issues have been slowed down and 
stopped because it is felt now that the best thing to do is to make 
sure the Democrats cannot make any more positive changes happen so it 
is clear the differences in values and priorities among this 
administration and their supporters and the new majority.
  Fifty-seven filibusters and counting. The American people expect us 
to stop this situation. This needs to stop. Enough is enough. There is 
a lot of work to be done, serious work. The American people expect us 
to do it, and we are committed to getting it done.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The distinguished senior Senator from Rhode 
Island is recognized.

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