[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 15 (Tuesday, January 26, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S146-S147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               FILIBUSTER

  Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, in the 2020 elections, Americans chose 
an evenly-divided Senate--half Republican, half Democrat. Evenly 
divided. Since the Vice President is able to break a tie when it comes 
to specifically organizing the Senate, Democrats have the majority.
  Now some Democrats want to lower the threshold for all the votes so 
that to pass anything, all they would need to do in case of a tie vote 
would have the Vice President be the tiebreaker. That is the way that a 
majority works. When there is a tie and the Vice President is in one 
party, they get to break the tie in that direction, of course.
  What we need to make sure of, though, is that there is fairness in 
the process. The traditions and how this institution works are that we 
have a filibuster. Sixty votes is how legislation is passed.
  We know that the press and sometimes folks in Congress say it is hard 
to pass a law. Well, it is not supposed to be easy. It takes 
discussion. It takes negotiation. It brings people together. That is 
the idea of needing 60 votes--to bring people together to get a 
bipartisan consensus so that all the voices are heard; that there is a 
majority, and the minority voice is heard, and it forces us to find 
common ground.
  Frankly, I think there is too little of finding common ground in 
Washington already. The last thing America needs is even more 
divisiveness. This is a big, diverse country. We don't need 50 percent 
of the country plus one to run roughshod over all the others. That is 
why our Founders were so careful to protect the rights of the minority. 
That is why they created the Bill of Rights, why they created the 
electoral college, and why they created the U.S. Senate. The Founding 
Fathers didn't want the Senate to be a copy of the House. We are 
intended to be a check on the House.
  There is a story that President Washington compared the Senate to a 
saucer used to cool down a cup of tea. President Madison compared it to 
a fence. We are not supposed to be a smaller version of the House of 
Representatives. The Senate is supposed to cool things down. We are 
supposed to think things through. We are supposed to stop bad ideas and 
stop the House from moving too fast. Changing the rules of the Senate 
would make that impossible.
  Lowering the bar to 50 votes could also be a blatant power grab, 
which is 50 votes and the Vice President. The Democrats could even add 
States to the Union--specifically States that would elect more 
Democrats to the Senate. It would give them even more Senate seats, 
could even give them a permanent majority in the Senate.
  With 50 votes plus the Vice President, Democrats could also pack the 
Supreme Court with liberal activist judges--judges who legislate from 
the bench, not judges who apply the law as written. That would give 
them a permanent majority both in the Senate and on the Court.
  With a single rule change, one branch of government, one Chamber of 
Congress, could be under permanent Democratic control. It is no 
surprise that it is tempting to Senate Democrats and that the far-left 
branch of that party is demanding that occur.
  You remember that when President Trump was in office, Republicans had 
a chance to do exactly the same thing. In fact, former President Trump 
repeatedly asked us and told us that we should do just that. In one 
particularly memorable example, he tweeted: ``The U.S. Senate should 
switch to 51 votes.'' He said: ``Dems would do it, no doubt.'' More 
than 30 different times, President Trump asked that Republicans end the 
filibuster. We didn't. We stuck to the intentions of our Founding 
Fathers. We protected the rights of the minority, and we put country 
before party.
  If Democrats won't stop the power grab for the good of the country, 
then they should at least do it for their own good.
  Democrats have had 50 votes and the Vice President for only a few 
days. In fact, when Democrats were in the minority, 33 Democratic 
Senators said they didn't want to change the rules. They signed a 
letter, and that letter called for the preservation of the rights of 
the minority. Twenty-seven of those Democrats are still Members of the 
Senate today. One of those Democrats is now the Vice President of the 
United States, Vice President Kamala Harris.
  Even President Biden called the idea of eliminating the filibuster 
``a very dangerous move.'' The White House Press Secretary told us last 
week President Biden still opposes changing the rules.
  If Democrats go down this road and break the rules of the Senate, 
they are doing more than just hurting the institution; they are 
admitting their ideas don't have broad bipartisan support. Think about 
that. If the Democratic agenda had the support of the American people, 
then they wouldn't need to change the rules. If Democrats could find 
bipartisan support to pass their tax increases, they would leave the 
rules alone. If Democrats could find bipartisan support to pass the 
Green New Deal and higher energy costs that come with it, they would 
leave the rules alone. If they could restrict gun ownership, they would 
leave the rules alone. They can't, and they know they can't. They know 
the American people have looked at their progressive agenda and said: 
No, thank you.
  President Biden's inaugural address last week talked a lot about 
unity. He said that ``with unity we can do great things.'' I agree.
  I ask my Democratic colleagues if they agree with the President's 
inaugural address, or do they really think

[[Page S147]]

that they want to make the U.S. Senate more partisan, more divided. Do 
they really want to take power away from individual Senators and give 
it to whoever has 50 votes and the tiebreaker at the moment? If it is 
hard for Democrats to pass laws, then they should try talking with us. 
Propose bipartisan solutions to our Nation's challenges. Persuade your 
colleagues. Make progress together.
  As my friend, former Senator Lamar Alexander, said in his farewell 
address just a month ago--he said: ``We don't need a change of rules. 
The Senate needs a change of behavior.''
  I urge my Democratic colleagues to reject this blatant power grab. 
Stop this rush to take more and more power. Come to the center. Reach 
across the aisle. Find common ground.
  Senate Republicans are ready to work together to help the American 
people, to get people back to work, to get our kids safely back to 
school so they don't fall further behind, and to get the virus behind 
us. Join us. Let's work together. Let's do what is right for the people 
we serve.
  I yield the floor

                          ____________________