[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10290]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       REPUBLICAN ABUSES OF POWER

  (Ms. BERKLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. BERKLEY. Mr. Speaker, our Founding Fathers envisioned Congress 
would deliberate, collaborate, and then judiciously compromise on the 
key issues of the day. Here in the House, the Republican majority 
refuses to collaborate, deliberate, or compromise. The House leadership 
consistently abuses its power by preventing the minority from offering 
its ideas on the floor.
  Fortunately, in the Senate, the Republican majority cannot force its 
will on the minority so easily. One of the tools of the Senate for more 
than 200 years is the filibuster, a rule that protects the rights of 
the minority and prevents the majority from having absolute power. It 
is a critical tool in the checks and balances that exist between the 
branches of government.
  Today, Senate Republicans are preparing to do something that has 
never been done before: abolish the rights of the minority to 
filibuster judicial appointments.
  This extreme power grab would seriously undermine our Nation's checks 
and balances. Like their colleagues in the House, Senate Republicans 
want absolute power, even though Americans know that our country works 
best when no political power is in absolute control.
  As a Nevadan, I want to personally thank Nevada Senator Harry Reid 
for leading the fight in the Senate to protect and preserve the 
constitutional form of government that we enjoy in this country.

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