[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2238]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS

  Mr. REID. Madam President, just a few words on what has been 
happening here recently. Certainly, there is an emergency. Our economy 
is suffering. There is not a State that is not hurting. Some States are 
hurting worse than others. This is a filibuster, and we are in the 
middle of a very important piece of legislation. I do not think it 
would be appropriate to take 10 days--is what it would take, a week or 
10 days--to try to get a 30-day extension when we have all these other 
things that are waiting to be done that relate directly to this. It 
just is not appropriate.
  What is a filibuster? If you look in the dictionary, Madam 
President--this was handed to me by the distinguished Senator from 
Michigan, Ms. Stabenow--if you look in the Oxford English Dictionary, a 
filibuster is a ``freebooter. One of a class of piratical adventurers 
who pillaged the Spanish colonies in the West Indies during the 17th 
century.'' A freebooter is ``one who engages in unauthorized and 
irregular warfare against foreign states. A pirate craft.'' In the 
United States: ``To obstruct progress in a legislative assembly; to 
practice obstruction.'' That is what this is all about--to practice 
obstruction. We are not preventing a vote. We are not preventing a 
vote. We want a vote to take place.
  My friend from Kentucky has raised an issue. He thinks it should be 
paid for. I believe it is an emergency, as it always has been when 
people are out of work for long periods of time. It is an emergency. We 
should be able to vote on what the Senator feels is appropriate; that 
is, that this be paid for, that it is not an emergency. These long 
lines of people who are out of work is not an emergency is what he 
believes. I believe they are.
  I think it is terribly inappropriate that this filibuster is being 
conducted. And to even make it worse, Madam President, we have people 
coming defending my friend from Kentucky. I will defend him on a lot of 
things but not on this. I think it is very out of line.

                          ____________________