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.
“REPUBLICAN FILIBUSTERS” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Senate section on pages S4273 on May 15, 2008.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
REPUBLICAN FILIBUSTERS
Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I also want to say that this has been a week when we have achieved a few things in the Senate but not nearly enough. We started off the Senate with a historic occasion, one which is not likely to be remembered by great historians but should be remembered by all who follow the business of the Senate. As of this week, the Republicans, the minority in the Senate, have now engaged in 71 Republican filibusters. A filibuster is an effort to stop the business on the floor of the Senate or at least to slow it down. It is a time-honored tradition in the Senate, but it is a tradition which has not been overused until this session of Congress.
In the entire history of the Senate, the total number of filibusters in any 2-year period, the maximum, was 57. So far in this 2-year period, the Republicans have engaged in 71 filibusters, and, of course, we have another 6 or 7 months to go in this session of Congress. It is clear that their ambition is to stop the Senate from addressing the major issues facing our Nation, or at least to slow us down to a crawl.
We have what we believe are good ideas and good proposals to deal with the high gasoline prices facing America's families and businesses, farmers and truckers. We have good proposals to deal with tax breaks for working families so they can meet the needs of their families with escalating prices for food and health care and daycare and the cost of daily living. Again, the Republicans have done their best to slow us down, if not stop us.
It reached a point several weeks ago that was nothing short of ridiculous. The Republicans initiated a filibuster to slow down the consideration of a bill known as a technical corrections bill. That is a bill that takes care of spelling and grammar errors. They engaged in a filibuster to slow down the Senate so it would take us a whole week to finish a technical corrections bill. When we finally reached the point and asked them for amendments, they had three or four that could have been dispensed with quickly.
They are dragging their feet and slowing us down with this record number of filibusters. But that isn't it alone. There is also a device in the Senate known as a hold. Most every Senator has used a hold, either on a bill or a nomination. Some of the holds that have been applied recently are so-called secret holds. Senators don't step forward to identify why they have held up a nomination or bill.
I have used holds. I am currently using those. But I have been very public about it. I have said exactly why I am doing it and the conditions for my releasing the hold. For example, when the Department of Justice wanted the approval of the Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip, a good man from Chicago, I said I would hold his nomination until I had received responses to questions I had submitted to the Department months before. Well, to his credit, Attorney General Mukasey moved on it extremely quickly. Within 48 hours, I had the answers and withdrew the hold immediately as promised. I am sorry it reached that point, but after waiting months, I didn't know another way to turn to get answers to important questions. So holds can be used effectively and honestly and openly.
Then again, there are holds that have been applied that I think are almost impossible to explain or justify. For example, one of the Senators on the Republican side has put a hold on a bill which was not controversial and very bipartisan, which would establish in the United States a national registry of those who are suffering from a disease known as ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease. It is a terrible, debilitating disease. It was the hope of the sponsor, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, that we could establish this registry and move even closer to finding the cause of this disease and perhaps lead to a cure. It was certainly a high-minded and sensible approach to a very serious medical condition affecting thousands of families across America.
One of the Senators from Oklahoma on the Republican side put a hold on this bill--in other words, stopped us from calling this bill for a vote. That is extremely unfortunate. There is nothing controversial about this bill. He should reconsider that hold. But it is not the only one.
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