“There are issues that are important to this country, issues like jobs, like energy and like controlling government spending. There are problems we need to solve in this country, and they are not being voted on here in the United States Senate”
Click here to watch Sen. Barrasso’s speech.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) spoke about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s record of preventing Republican and Democrat senators from voting on amendments and solving problems. Barrasso specifically points out that over the course of almost a year, Republican senators have proposed 810 amendments and only allowed to vote on 9. In that same time, Democrat senators have proposed 676 amendments and only voted on 7 of them.
Excerpts of his remarks
“This morning, the Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed legislation approving the Keystone XL pipeline.
“Congress, I believe, should do all it can to push the Obama Administration to approve this project.
“And this, of course, will help create American jobs. They’re going to come along with the Keystone XL pipeline.
“To me, though, this committee vote this morning was nothing more than a show vote. It’s going to do nothing to advance the Keystone XL pipeline.
“It will put no pressure on the White House. It will not put a single shovel in the ground building the pipeline.
“That’s because, the Democrat Majority Leader has absolutely no intention of allowing this bill to get a vote right here on the Senate floor. He knows that if senators got to vote on this bill, there is a very high likelihood that it would pass.
“Now, President Obama can’t afford that, and the Majority Leader will not do anything the President doesn’t want him to do. The Majority Leader will not do anything to anger the extremists who fund the Democrat party and who oppose an all of the above energy strategy in a plan that includes oil.
“I know that the last thing Americans and the people in the gallery want to hear about is the Senate process and Senate procedures, but here’s why it matters.
“There are issues that are important to this country, issues like jobs, like energy and like controlling government spending. There are problems we need to solve in this country, and they are not being voted on here in the United States Senate.
“The Majority Leader continues to block votes. He has blocked votes, he has blocked amendments and he has even blocked debate on one issue after another.
“I believe the Majority Leader has abused every power at his disposal and even broken the rules of the Senate, rules that have been in place for over a century, and he’s done this to give himself new powers.
“Over the past six and a half years, the Majority Leader has taken an unprecedented stand against action in the Senate. He has used tactics like so-called filling the amendment tree on bills. That means he stops anyone else from offering amendments other than himself.
“He’s used what is called rule 14 of the Senate rules to bypass committees, so we only talk about what he wants to talk about, not what our constituents want to talk about, what we hear about from home or what other committee members want to talk about.
“These kind of tactics may make it easier for Senator Reid to get what he wants, but they shut senators, Republicans and Democrats, out of legislating and they shut out the American people that all of us represent, Democrats as well as Republicans.
“Senator Reid has filled the amendment tree at least 85 times since he became Majority Leader. Now, that’s more than twice as many times as the previous six Majority Leaders combined.
“Between July 2013 and May of this year, Republicans in the Senate filed 810 amendments. We got a total of nine votes. 810 different ideas brought forward by Republicans and Senator Reid has blocked vote after vote to the point that we have gotten nine votes on 810 amendments. And this is almost a full year.
“Now, if you want a comparison, take a look at the House of Representatives where the Republicans are in the majority. But the minority party, the Democrats, have an opportunity to offer amendments and have votes.
“The Democrats over that same time period in the House of Representatives have gotten 132 votes on their amendments. 132 votes. The minority on the House side has had votes, the Republicans on this side, the minority party, nine.
“But I tell you, in the Senate, it’s not just the Republicans who aren’t getting their votes. The Majority Leader is blocking the Democrats as well.
“During that same time from July of 2013 through May of 2014, Democrats introduced 676 amendments on legislation on the floor, and there were only seven roll call votes on 676 amendments.
“So I guess it’s not surprising that Republicans can’t get votes on their amendments, but it’s very surprising that the Democrats can’t get votes because only the Majority Leader gets a vote.
“It’s the same story on appropriation bills, and that’s why I’m here at this time because we’re dealing with appropriation bills. They are some of the most important bills we’re supposed to consider in Congress.
“These are the bills that determine how much Washington spends every year on all the discretionary programs.
“Now, we started debating the first of these yesterday, and we may do so over the next few weeks. It used to be that the Senate would take up these bills one by one and senators would get a chance to offer amendments and to represent the people that elected them to office.
“Not anymore. Under this Democrat Majority Leader, the amendment process on appropriation bills has been almost completely shut down. In the past two years, Republicans have gotten just six amendments to appropriation bills. Senate Democrats only got one amendment during that last time.
“The Senate has approved trillions, trillions of dollars in Washington spending, but Harry Reid allowed action on just seven amendments total.
“In the eight years before Senator Reid became Majority Leader, the Senate processed an average of almost 300 amendments to appropriation bills every year, every year, almost 300 amendments to appropriation bills.
“Senators from both parties have been shut out of the process, and the people that we represent have been shut out of the process as well, all by Senator Reid.
“It’s the same kind of power grab we saw last September when the Majority Leader used the so-called nuclear option to stop debate in the Senate. He radically changed the rules of the Senate to strip the rights of the minority party.
“Now, that had to do with eliminating the filibuster on nominations, but it’s the same effect. The Majority Leader grabbed more power for himself, taking away the right of anyone else in the Senate to represent their constituents.
“This is not how it’s supposed to be. The Senate was designed, designed to be a place where we debate these issues and where political minorities get fair representation.
“The father of our constitution, James Madison, explained the Senate’s role was, ‘First to protect the people against the rulers.’ That was the point of this body.
“That’s why over its history, the Senate has adopted rules that provide strong protections for political minorities.
“Well, the way the Senate has been run by Majority Leader Reid, it’s been very embarrassing. It’s been unfair and it’s been insulting to the American people.
“Again, I know this isn’t the most exciting topic for people to hear about, but the damage that’s being done by the Senate’s failure to act is very real.
“Congress has important legislation to debate, like approving the Keystone XL pipeline, but the Majority Leader won’t even allow a vote on the bill.
“Our nation has a total debt of $17.5 trillion. But the Majority Leader of the United States Senate blocks amendments that could improve the appropriation bill and maybe start to control Washington’s wasteful spending.
“We should have an open amendment process on these appropriation bills this year as we should have in previous years, and we should be starting with the bill that’s on the floor today.
“It’s time for Democrats to stop the show votes and allow real votes on issues important to American families.”
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