Klobuchar says Senate makes progress on changing rules
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar supported a bipartisan agreement reached yesterday (Thursday, Jan. 27) to reform the Senate rules, including finally putting an end to “secret holds.”
In a bipartisan vote of 92-4, the Senate passed a resolution to officially eliminate the use of secret holds, which have allowed a single senator to anonymously block a bill or nomination from coming to the Senate floor.
Shortly before the vote, Klobuchar took to the Senate floor to commend the bipartisan agreement that will also reduce the number of executive nominations subject to the Senate confirmation process and eliminate the delaying tactic of forcing the reading of an amendment that is publicly available and has been submitted for 72 hours.
“The American people aren’t interested in the gamesmanship and gridlock that prevent elected officials from doing their jobs,” Klobuchar said. “I am glad that we have reached a bipartisan agreement on many reform proposals that I’ve pushed for, and I believe those changes will help us better serve the American people. I will keep fighting for additional changes that would increase accountability and transparency and allow the Senate to function more effectively.”
Klobuchar was part of a group of newer senators who in recent months have been pushing for responsible reforms to outdated Senate rules, including ending secret holds. She also voted today for additional rule changes that did not pass the Senate, including a proposal to require senators wishing to filibuster legislation to actually speak on the Senate floor to make their objections known, as well as a proposal to allow judicial nominations to be considered more efficiently.
As part of the agreement, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) agreed not to use the so-called “constitutional option”, which would allow Senate rules to be changed by majority vote, in this Congress or the next, and he agreed to reduce the use of the process called “filling the tree” to block all amendments. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) agreed to reduce the use of the filibuster on motions to proceed.
Below is the full text of Klobuchar’s speech on the Senate floor:
Mr. President, I first want to commend Senator Wyden, Senator Grassley, Senator McCaskill for their incredible determination to get this done, to finally – we thought we did it. Our class of senators came, and we thought we had gotten rid of the secret hold, but lo and behold, they found a way to work around it.
Secondly, I want to thank Senator Alexander over there as well as Senator Schumer with the Rules Committee for negotiating a number of these changes, as well as Senator Reid and Senator McConnell. You know, when I think back to the last few months and what’s happened, we really had an incredibly productive lame-duck session at the end of this last congress. We all know there’s a lot of work to be done, but in the closing months of this year, we’ve shown people, I think to their surprise, that we could truly get some things done on a bipartisan basis.
When the American people unite and see a clear issue, whether it was the nuclear arms treaty, whether it was the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, whether it was the first responders and they say, “Hey, what’s happening in this chamber?” because they actually see a debate. They see someone standing up and making a point, as you do so well, Mr. President, on so many issues. Then they can make a decision.
That’s all we’re talking about here when we talk about these sometimes complicated and convoluted rules changes. It’s getting things out in the open. And obviously the first thing is to get rid of the secret hold and permanently end it. The second thing that’s important here is filibuster reform. It is a long-standing tradition in the Senate that one senator can, if she chooses, hold the floor to explain her objections to a bill.
We always think Jimmy Stewart’s character, Jefferson Smith, in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.” This is where Senator Udall – who by the way, I always think his voice sort of sounds like Jimmy Stewart – but where Senator Udall and Senator Merkley have come in and done such a tremendous job of pushing these filibuster reform issues, as well as Senator Tom Harkin, who has been working on this long before our group ever came to the Senate. A group of us got together with the smart proposals made by Senators Harkin and Udall and Merkley, got together to look at what are the best reforms, the ones we can truly get through. They asked “what’s a package that we can go to the other side of the aisle and talk about what we need to get it done?”
The agreement that’s been reached includes some of the important changes we want. The first I mentioned, is to get rid of secret holds, but of course, critical reforms to the filibuster are still necessary as far as I can see. One of the things that I hope we reconsider as we go down the way is the idea that we could actually make people stand to filibuster, so that they’re in this chamber, they are discussing why it is so important they hold something up, whether it is a judge, whether it is the Assistant Secretary of Oceanic Affairs, whether it is a major bill, or a minor bill.
People should be able to hear the arguments and then make their own decisions. And, that way, if they have a good argument for filibustering something or if a group of senators has a good idea, the American people will say, “Oh, I can understand why this is happening.” But if they are doing it for reasons that don’t make any sense to the people of this country, it is going to be seen for what it is and that’s slowing down the progress of this country at a time when there are so many major issues that we need to deal with in this chamber.
So I’m happy that we have been able to reach agreement on a number of these important issues. It would not have happened without the people who are here today, without their determination, and I look forward to more changes and agreements in the future.
With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
