[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 122 (Wednesday, July 19, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H5983]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    DEATH OF THE CONSERVATIVE AGENDA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Alabama (Mr. Brooks) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BROOKS of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, our Republican Senate majority is 
killing our conservative agenda, our Republican agenda, and President 
Trump's agenda. The murder weapon is the Senate filibuster rule, an 
archaic accident of history created during the days of horse-and-buggy 
and slavery.
  The filibuster rule destroys the basic democratic principle of 
majority rule and obstructs passage of legislation unless a 60 percent 
supermajority of Senators agree. While today's 52-Senator Republican 
majority can abolish the filibuster rule anytime it wants, so long as 
the filibuster rule is in place, Republicans can pass nothing without 
the consent of Chuck Schumer and the Democrats.
  Think about it. Our Republican Senate majority has abdicated control 
and empowered Chuck Schumer and the Democrat minority to obstruct the 
will of the Republican House, obstruct the will of the Republican 
Senate majority, obstruct the will of President Trump, and obstruct the 
will of the tens of millions of American voters who send us to 
Washington.
  That is political suicide and an abject betrayal of the millions of 
American voters who sent us here.
  There will be no border wall because our Republican Senators empower 
Democrats to kill it. There will be no ObamaCare repeal because our 
Republican Senators empower Democrats to stop us. America's out-of-
control deficits and debts will cause a debilitating insolvency and 
bankruptcy that destroys an America it took generations of our 
ancestors to build because our Republican Senators empower Democrats to 
spend money we don't have, have to borrow to get, and cannot afford to 
pay back.
  During 2015 and 2016, the House worked hard to address America's 
challenges. Over 500 of our bills never got so much as a single Senate 
floor vote. All that work wasted.
  The Senate filibuster rule is not in the Constitution. It is not a 
Federal law or statute. It exists solely at the discretion of the 
Senate majority.
  President Trump understands the filibuster rule and that it threatens 
the President's entire legislative agenda. On May 2, President Trump 
urged our Republican Senators to end the filibuster rule, stating: 
``Change the rules now to 51 percent.''
  On May 30, President Trump reiterated: ``The U.S. Senate should 
switch to 51 votes immediately and get healthcare and tax cuts approved 
fast and easy. Dems would do it, no doubt.''
  President Trump's pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Exhibit A in this 
murder trial is an April 7 letter to Chuck Schumer, of all people, and 
Mitch McConnell that lists the accomplices, those deaf ears, who are 
killing the conservative agenda, the Republican agenda, and President 
Trump's agenda.
  The letter states: ``We . . . urge you to . . . preserve existing 
rules, practices, and traditions as they pertain to the right of 
Members to engage in extended debate on legislation before the United 
States Senate. . . . We are united in our determination to preserve the 
ability of Members to engage in extended debate when bills are on the 
Senate floor.''
  Each Senator on exhibit A empowers Chuck Schumer and the Democrats to 
kill President Trump's agenda. Remarkably, even an Alabama Senator 
supports killing President Trump's agenda.
  Mr. Speaker, Republican Senators claim we need the filibuster to play 
defense when Democrats control the Senate. I submit that claim is 
myopic and shortsighted. In the past 90 years, Republicans have not had 
a single filibuster-proof Senate, while Democrats enjoyed filibuster-
proof Senates in the 1930s, the 1960s, and in 2009. In those years, 
Democrats passed ObamaCare and forced great society welfare programs on 
us that busted our budgets, destroyed the work ethic, broke up American 
families, and threatened America with a national insolvency.
  Over the long haul and because of the filibuster, Democrats force 
their leftist, socialist policies down America's throats, while 
Republicans never have the power to reverse the damage done.
  That is the Senate filibuster legacy.
  Mr. Speaker, time is running out. America's future is at stake. Now 
is not the time to play procedural games. I agree with President Trump.
  Senate: End the filibuster.

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