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Senate must do away with filibusters

DEAR EDITOR:

This letter is in response to the submission of Jim Villani published last August and curiously titled “Consider elimination of Senate filibuster tactic.”

The time for changes in the rules of the Senate cannot wait.

For those unfamiliar, the filibuster is a means of blocking legislation until 60 votes have been secured within the Senate. This maneuver is available to only the upper chamber of Congress among a wide array of other options for blocking bills.

My perspective on what should be done with the filibuster is quite simple: alter Senate procedure to get rid of it. This should have happened long ago. Get rid of the filibuster, and America will see a far more functional form of government that can better respond to the challenges of the present age.

The Senate as it functions now is often clogged. Sixty votes are required to achieve cloture and stop a single senator from holding up legislation. This is inefficient and wastes time. The solution for this, as I see it, is make the Senate work more like the House of Representatives where only a simple majority is required for a bill’s passage. Common sense is the deciding factor using this method, and whatever party controls the majority decides what happens in the end. And if there’s a tie then, of course, the vice president casts the deciding vote. We have had our elections; now the results should be allowed to come to form.

Once the filibuster is gone, it will stay gone. When another party gains more seats than the Democrats — and that will happen someday — then that party will have the benefits of being able to more easily pass legislation not hampered by bureaucratic roadblocks.

Congress has existed as a logjam for too much of the past couple decades. You adapt your government when necessary to improve its performance. There will always be debate about when the time for a change should happen.

This debate has gone on long enough, especially considering the subject matter. Effectively get rid of the filibuster by changing the Senate rules on votes required to pass. Change the cloture process, obliterate the Byrd rule and remove all the other potholes from the Senate that are keeping this country from modernizing itself.

ROBERT HELTZEL

Formerly of Niles

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