[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 12, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S1596]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            DIFFERING VIEWS

  Mr. REID. I apologize to the Presiding Officer and all the staff, but 
I have been conducting for the last hour and a half or more a meeting 
in the classified room dealing with Ukraine. I am sorry I couldn't be 
here, but I just couldn't because I had to conduct that meeting.
  Mr. President, the senior Senator from Iowa is my friend, but I am 
quite disappointed in my friend the senior Senator from Iowa. This 
afternoon he delivered another one of his ``Alice in Wonderland'' 
speeches. He has delivered a few of these, but the one today especially 
is a view of reality that only exists in fairy tales.
  He complains that I file too many cloture motions. His complaint is 
like that of an arsonist who complains about having to hear the sirens 
of too many fire engines.
  The real reason I have had to file so many cloture motions is because 
Republicans have engaged in a systematic pattern of obstruction--and 
not last week, not last month, but this has been going on for 5 years. 
We have come to see this as something of the pinnacle, the landmark, 
the zenith of obstructionism led by my Republican colleagues.
  I have now had to file cloture motions during the time I have been 
the majority leader more than 500 times. Lyndon Johnson, who had the 
job for 6 years--I have had it a little longer than that--only had to 
face one filibuster. I have had to deal with 500.
  I don't file cloture, as the Senator from Iowa would like folks to 
think, in this fairy tale world he believes in, I guess, because I 
enjoy it. It is not something I enjoy. It takes a lot of my time, the 
staff's time, the Senate's time, and the country's time. I don't like 
to do it. I file these motions because Republicans have made it clear 
that we can't get a vote on anything without going to cloture, and that 
is basically true.
  What is the solution of the Senator from Iowa to the problem? Listen 
to this. Now, this really is ``Alice in Wonderland.'' He proposes it 
should take longer to file. He proposes it should take longer to file 
cloture. Now, that is some dreamland that I don't understand. He says 
the solution to the problem of Republican obstructionism is to make 
obstruction easier.
  We have on the Executive Calendar 140 nominations. We have 
Ambassadors--there is an Executive Calendar here someplace. The pages 
have stripped all the desks of the calendars, but they are always 
around. The Republic of Mauritania, the Republic of Colombia--South 
America is a continent that has been our friend for decades--we have 
most all countries in Africa waiting to have Ambassadors appointed: 
Zambia, Niger, Peru, Belize, Albania, Angola, Palau, Cameroon, Sierra 
Leone, Lesotho, Namibia, Tanzania, Morocco, Netherlands, Norway, 
Hungary, Iceland, U.S. Human Rights Council.
  I am not going to take more of the staff's time, but throughout this 
Executive Calendar there are about 40 Ambassadors--40 Ambassadors--who 
are waiting to be confirmed and 35 or so judges. Do the math yourself. 
That is 75 or 80 very important jobs they have stopped.
  So my friend from Iowa is living in a dream world. I don't know where 
it exists, but it doesn't exist here in the Senate. And his solution is 
to give them more time? Can you imagine that. This is an ``Alice in 
Wonderland'' speech from the Senator from Iowa, and he should have 
better use of his time than playing fairy tales in the Senate.
  The obstruction led by Republican Senators from all over this country 
is an embarrassment to our country. It is preventing the people of this 
country from getting what they need.
  Now, I know people around the country are not too worried about an 
Ambassador to some foreign country, but to our country it is important. 
Our foreign policy is important. Being able to get work done here 
legislatively is important, and we have been stymied every step of the 
way.
  I am sorry to say my friend has stepped over the line with his speech 
here today about what a terrible thing has happened here, that we have 
filed cloture 500 times. The record speaks for itself.

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