The Senate Filibuster

THE SENATE FILIBUSTER -- (House of Representatives - May 18, 2005)

(Ms. WATSON asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)

Ms. WATSON. Mr. Speaker, today, we may find out whether President Bush and his Congressional colleagues want to turn the Senate into a second House of Representatives, a rubber stamp for a right wing agenda and radical judges.

President Bush wants to pack the Federal courts with the extreme right fringe of this country, putting at risk the rights and liberties this country has fought for and protected for centuries. He wants to create a Supreme Court that will not act as an independent branch but instead wag its tail at every beck and call.

Mr. Speaker, Republican leaders are out of control. Instead of governing and tending to the Nation's business, they are on a quest for absolute power. They are on a mission to trash our Founding Fathers' commitment to the separation of powers and the abhorrence of simple majority rule.

While the Republicans continue their odyssey for absolute power, Democrats are fighting to protect our constitutional checks and balances and to ensure that we remain a Nation ruled by laws and not by men.

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