http://newmexicoindependent.com/45162/udall-wants-senate-to-decide-on-the-filibusterUdall wants Senate to decide on the filibuster
By Matthew Reichbach 1/25/10 5:35 PM
Senator Tom Udall introduced a Senate Resolution that could end the filibuster (pdf) and instead allow votes to go through the Senate by majority rule. Udall says he is not advocating for any one decision, but rather letting the Senate decide on whether or not to change the rule.
Part of the resolution reads:
Resolved, That upon the expiration of the Standing Rules of the Senate at the Sine Die Adjournment of the 111th Congress, the Senate shall proceed in accordance with article I, section 5 of the Constitution to determine the Rules of its Proceedings by a simple majority vote.
“We, as elected representatives, have a duty to our constituents. But partisan rancor and the Senate’s own incapacitating rules often prevent us from fulfilling that duty,” Udall said in his remarks on the floor of the Senate. “While I am convinced that our inability to function is our own fault, we have the authority within the Constitution to act.”
Udall said he was moved to act because of the large number of filibusters and the increase in cloture votes; in the 112th Congress, there were 112 uses of the filibuster, Udall claims.
Udall cites a former Senator from New Mexico, Clinton Anderson, as a reason for pursuing this.
“I have the desire to take up his commitment to the Senate and his dedication to the principle that in each new Congress, the Senate should exercise its constitutional power to determine its own rules,” Udall said. “Let me be very clear – I am not arguing for or against any specific changes to the rules, but I do think each Senate has the right, according to the Constitution, to determine all of its rules by a simple majority vote.”
In addition to citing the former Senator from New Mexico, Udall also cited former Senator from Massachusetts, who was a Senator bridging the time before New Mexico became a state and up until after New Mexico joined the union, Henry Cabot Lodge.
“To vote without debating is perilous, but to debate and never vote is imbecile,” Lodge said.
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