The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“FILIBUSTER” mentioning Mitch McConnell was published in the Senate section on page S96 on Jan. 22.
Of the 100 senators in 117th Congress, 24 percent were women, and 76 percent were men, according to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
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The publication is reproduced in full below:
FILIBUSTER
Mr. McCONNELL. Now, Mr. President, on a totally different matter, while business proceeds on the floor, the Democratic leader and I are continuing to flesh out the structure of this 50-50 Senate.
When Leaders Lott and Daschle wrote a similar agreement 20 years ago, there wasn't a need at all to reaffirm the basic standing rules that govern legislation here in the Senate. It was safely assumed that no majority would break this rule for short-term gain.
Floor remarks surrounding those 2001 discussions specifically cite the legislative filibuster as an important and unquestioned part of the backdrop that lay beneath the negotiations on the finer details. It was assumed no one would ever take that step.
After the fact, Leader Daschle, the Democrat, praised the legislative filibuster as a crucial rule. President Biden has praised this distinctive feature of the Senate on many occasions.
Our current Democratic colleagues used it liberally--liberally--over the last several years when they were in the minority. More than two dozen signed a bipartisan letter in 2017 saying our Republican majority should not break the rule by brute force. Let me say that again. Two dozen Democrats signed a bipartisan letter in 2017 saying our Republican majority should not break this rule by brute force. I agreed. I didn't do it. President Trump was not happy with that. He tweeted against me numerous times because I didn't put an end to the legislative filibuster. So the Democrats used it constantly, as they had every right to. They were happy to insist on a 60-vote threshold for practically every major bill I took up.
So we will continue to request that our Democratic colleagues reaffirm this standing rule of the Senate, which they have been happy to use on many occasions, I can attest. If we are going to truly replicate the 2001 agreement, we need to reaffirm this crucial part of the foundation that lay beneath it.
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