BBSNews - 2005-05-18 -- [THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT - 11:45 am DNC Conference call with Senator Reid, DNC chairman Howard Dean (on tape) moderator Laura Gross and several questions from participants answered in Q&A.]
Good afternoon my name is Laura Gross from the DNC communication dept. Thank you for joining us for this briefing with Senator Reid today about the republican effort to destroy our nations 200 year tradition of checks and balances. Here in DC it’s known as the nuclear option.
First today we will hear a brief greeting from DNC chairman Howard Dean who is on an airplane this morning and is unable to join us.
Howard Dean: I'm sorry I can’t be with you today but I want to thank you for taking time out of your day to participate in this call. In particular I want to thank Senator Harry Reid for sharing with us his thoughts on this incredibly important issues facing the senate and facing the country. The nuclear options effects the Supreme Court the impact of the republican power grab will have far reaching consequences for future decision that will be made by the senate including the next justices of the Supreme Court. So please listen carefully to what Senator Reid has to say today empower yourself tell your friends family coworkers and anyone else that will listen to speak out against the republican power grab in the US senate. The United States constitution protects the rights of a minority in the senate to make sure that one party can control everything. If they get away with this on the republican side we will have 1 party rule nominate any extreme judge that you want sweep away 200 years of constitutional tradition allowing the 48% of us that do not support President bush to have some say in the governing of this country. Thanks so much for listening and I want to thank Senator Reid once again for coming on.
Now we will turn it over to Senator Harry Reid who is just left the senate floor to give us a first hand behind the scenes account about where things stand now and what we can do to help.
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Senator Harry Reid (NV) is the Democratic Leader in the U.S. Senate.
Photo Credit: senate.gov. For a transcript of Senator Reid's floor speech about the filibuster on May 18th, 2005 see: http://reid.senate.gov/record2.cfm?id=237812 |
| The image shown above in it's full size is available in BBSNews Photos. |
Thank you Senator Reid. We’ve got time for a couple of questions from our callers today and let’s get started with one from Dewayne in Exton, PA.
He says, Senator Reid can you explain why allowing this change to eliminate the filibuster to take place would still be so wrong if we the democrats manage to become the majority party in a few years and use it to our advantage?
I believe that if you are in a ballgame you don’t change the rules in the middle of the ballgame. It kinda reminds me of when I was a little boy I had never gone anyplace and I had a brother that was 10 or 12 years older than I and he was, he worked for a standard station in a place called Ashfork Arizona. And he, boy I was so excited that I could go spend the summer with him no actually it was a week or two and because I had never been anyplace. Went there but what I didn’t know was that he had a girlfriend so my brother and I didn’t spend much time together I spent a lot of time with his girlfriend brother. I could do everything better than he could I could run faster I could jump higher I thought I was smarter than him in checker games and all that but I never won anything because he kept changing rules in the middle of the ballgame. That’s what the republicans are doing. Changing the rule in the middle of the game. They are wiling to do that and so if we took the majority in the senate which we will do some day. I don’t think this is the right thing. I don’t think its right. The problem with it sets a precedence that is always there being that a simple minority can change the rules in the senate even though the rules say that it takes 67. So if they do it on appellate court judges then they will do it on district court judges then they will do it on other nominations that we get from the president and then the next thing they will do it on simple legislation so I think its the wrong thing to do for today, I think its the wrong thing to do tomorrow, I think its the wrong thing to do no matter what party is in power.
Our 2nd questions comes from Louise in Freemont, CA:
Senator Reid what is the threat to the moderate republic senators if they vote their conscience instead of voting the will of Mr. Bush and Karl Rove?
Well, we have gotten word here today that their lobbyists calling telling these senators that if they vote with us that they will never get campaign contributions from these different organization. I think that they will as a way things go if they have done this in the house and senate they punish people for voting their conscience talking about things of conscience for example Arlen Specter from Pennsylvania says that he thought that all the judges were not necessarily, that the president sent down should not necessarily be approved. He was slapped down real hard and he went into time out like you do with a kid before they let him become the chairman of the committee which he deserved because he had more seniority. There are lots of things they can do to punish these people. The sad part about it they will do it.
Next question comes from Bob in Charleston, Rhode Island:
Senator Reid, if the rule changes preventing the filibuster goes through, what will it take to change it back?
It would take in my estimation, it will take 67 votes if somebody didn’t want it changed. Not a simple majority.
Ok and our 4th question comes from Sara in West Palm Beach, FL:
Senator Reid, what is the best argument we can use to convince the senate republicans and their supporters that this action is not in their best interest?
For 214 years this country has had the filibuster. The senate was set up not to protect majorities, it was set up to protect minorities, racial of course, but minorities generally and its worked well over the years. It forces people to come to a compromise and work together. It allows the senate as Washington and Jefferson established in a conversation that they that it is the saucer that cools the rhetoric, cools the legislative issues that’s what our 2 great presidents Washington and Jefferson said. So the country will be hurt. We will become less than what we were we turn into an extension of the House of Representatives that’s too bad.
Our next questions comes from Mark in Atlanta, Georgia:
Senator Reid, the judicial balance is really all we have left right now until another round of elections. How can I personally help you?
You’re from Atlanta Georgia and frankly we have no hope for the Georgia senators of their helping us on this issue. But I would say to the people that are listening to this conversation from Arizona, from Rhode Island, from Virginia from Maine, from Nebraska, from Pennsylvania from Alaska, from New Hampshire, those people on this phone should make personal....
(Unintelligible)
...making a real mistake here and we are going to remember it come 2006 or whenever you are up for reelection. I think that is the message that has to be sent to these people. The republican leadership in the senate is being driven by the radical right. The republican leadership in the senate, they do not represent main stream republicans in this country and we need to get a few republican senators, we need 6 to break this trend towards travesty.
Our last question comes from Linda in Jonesboro, Tennessee:
Senator Reid, how many times over the past 50 years have the republicans used the filibuster to block judicial nominees of democratic presidents?
If you go back to the beginning of our country academics say that 20% of the judges nominated by presidents fell by the wayside. From the beginning of our country until 1917 there was no way you could stop a filibuster it simply went on and on and on. And so as a result of that a number of judges nominated by the president never made it to the senate floor. 1917 it was changed to 67 1964 it was changed to 60 to break a filibuster. During those years until present day a lot a number of a number of presidential appointments by democrats have been blocked by republicans. They were even more grossly abusive during the Clinton years. What they did they even never allowed the presidential nominees to come to the floor. They killed them in committee. 69 nominations of the president never made it out of the judicial committee. Never had a vote most of them never had a hearing. So that what the republicans they they certainly don’t have clean hands on this. They turned down 69 of the president Clintons nominees and we’ve turned down 10 which is now narrowed to 5. But they want everything they are not interested in what went on and what might go on they are only interested in today and that’s a bad way to run our government.
Senator Reid thank you again for taking...interrupted by Senator Reid saying "but Laura let me just say I want everyone to know just how much I appreciate you have gotten support from all over the country. Through email faxes and phone calls from personal appearances when we have had rallies in different places. This is such an important issue as I stated earlier anything that you can do to affect those states that I mention should be done. Arizona, Rhode Island, Virginia, Maine, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. Anything that could be done there you should do whatever you can to exert whatever influence exist to have them not do this. We need profiles in courage. We need 6 republicans to stand up and say we’ve got enough power we don’t need to abuse our power we are powerful enough our founding fathers were right the republican leadership is wrong. So Laura thank you very much. Governor Dean, appreciate hearing and listening to him he is doing a good job everybody appreciate your time including the press. Bye
Thank you again Senator Reid for taking time. And thank you all who participated in this call we hope you will accept the challenge from Senator Reid and seize the opportunity to call your senators and tell yours friends family members and neighbors to do the same to stop the republican power grab in the us senate. You can find contact information online for all those senators at democrats.org/officials. Thank you again.