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The cloture vote
Cloture is simply a French word meaning closure. Under U.S. Senate rules, cloture is not just intended to shut down a fillibuster, like James Stewart’s famous one in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Cloture closes down all extended debate and consideration of a bill. Once cloture has been approved, which takes 60 votes, no further amendments may be offered, no senator may speak for more than one hour, and total debate is limited to 30 hours, at which point a vote on the bill must be taken. It is now 2 p.m. Eastern time. A cloture vote on S.1348 is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. today. Call your senators and urge them to vote against cloture so that a proper debate on this bill can be had. Ask your senators’ aides how they can justify rushing to a vote on an unbelievably complicated, 326 page bill that no one has read or digested yet. Say to them: is this the way our form of government is supposed to operate? Note: of 22 Republicans who support the immigration bill, 11 are up for re-election in 2008: Norm Coleman, Susan Collins, Larry Craig, Pete Domenici, Lindsey Graham, Chuck Hagel, Mitch McConnell Gordon Smith, Ted Stevens, Saxby Chambliss, and John Warner. Other possibilities are Lisa Murkowski and George Voinovich, who are both vulnerable in 2010. Johnny Isakson may also be salvageable.
If 11 of the 22 pro-amnesty Republicans join the other 23 Republicans plus seven Democrats, adding up to 41, the cloture motion, which requires 60 senators to pass it, can be defeated and a vote on this ruinous bill can be put off. Email entry |