What Is The Filibuster All About?

The filibuster has been a tool available to U.S. Senatorsstates that when a Senator rises to seek recognition
during Senate floor discussions on legislation andduring floor debate, he or she is guaranteed a chance
appointments since the U.S. Constitution was ratified.to speak on the question for as long as he or she
Both the Democratic and Republican parties havewishes. The presiding officer is not given discretion in
valued the filibuster as a means to bring compromisethis matter and must recognize each Senator in order.
and bipartisanship to bitter and divisive debates.During the period of time that a recognized Senator is
The word, filibuster, as it applies to the Americanspeaking the question before the Senate cannot come
political process refers to a political delaying tactic suchto a vote. The Senator cannot be interrupted or be
as a long speech used by politicians to delay orforced to stop their speech without their consent.
prevent the passage of legislation. The older meaningDebate Rule XIX does not limit the number of
of filibuster refers to the illegal act of plundering orSenators who may speak on an issue. The rule does,
piracy; of capturing a ship and its cargo and holding ithowever, limit each Senator to two speeches per
for ransom.legislative day on each issue. During a filibuster period
The etymology of the word, filibuster, seems to datethe presiding officer will typically call a recess rather
back to about 1560-1570 when the English anglicizedthan an adjournment at the end of the calendar day,
the Dutch word, vrijbutier, into freebooter. A freebooterkeeping the legislative day alive when the Senate
is understood to be a person who goes in search ofreconvenes. This tactic effectively limits each Senator
plunder; a pirate, a buccaneer. Shortly thereafter, theto a maximum of two speeches on each issue. It is
French adopted filibustier and the Spanish adoptedpossible, however, for a Senator to offer an
filibustero to mean the same thing. In the 17th centuryamendment in order to create a new debatable
the English transformed the Spanish word into filibusterquestion, on which the Senators may make two more
to describe the actions of the pirates who attackedspeeches.
the Spanish explorers of the New World. In the 1800'sA relatively recent provision in Rule XIX, called the
the Americans popularized the word filibuster, referring"Pastore Rule" in honor of Senator John Pastore of
to the activities of famous pirates operating in LatinRhode Island, requires that debate on a question must
America and the Caribbean.be germane to the question. During filibuster periods
Filibuster as Piracythis rule is enforced to prevent Senators from making
From 1830 to 1860 the countries of Cuba, Mexico,meaningless, off-topic speeches. During the 1930's
Honduras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua were all victimsthrough the 1950's several Senators, such as Huey
of various filibuster campaigns. The filibusters were ledLong and Strom Thurmond made long filibusters which
by groups of adventurers who, without the consent ofincluded readings of recipes, the Congressional Record,
the American Government, but with the aid of privatethe Declaration of Independence, and other
American finance, tried to seize political power in thesenon-germane topics.
Latin American and Caribbean countries. Part of theWhile a Senator is speaking on an issue he or she
aim of the filibuster campaigns was to empower themust remain standing and must speak more or less
population of these countries and bring forth acontinuously. During a filibuster-length speech this
revolution that would be beneficial to Americanrequirement creates fatigue in the speaker. However,
interests, mainly the slave trade.the speaker may yield to a question from another
Financial support for the filibusters came largely fromSenator without losing the floor. The other Senator can
the southern states where parades of celebrationprovide relief by asking a very long question followed
were held in their honor and songs were written aboutby a short answer, followed by more long questions. In
their adventures. Officially, the U.S. did not support thethis manner a group of Senators can work together to
filibuster campaigns because the military was spreadextend the length of a Senator's speaking period.
too thin to be able to provide adequate enforcementSenate Rule XXII
of the laws against the involvement. Many citizensThe procedures for invoking cloture for purposes of
saw the campaigns as an aspect of "manifestwrapping up the floor debate and bringing the question
destiny," the idea that America had a right to unlimitedto a vote are contained in Rule XXII. The process
expansion.requires a motion that is signed by at least 16 Senators
A couple of famous filibusterers include Narciso Lopezand presented to the presiding officer while the
and William Walker. Lopez liberated Venezuela fromquestion is being debated. The rule requires that the
Spanish rule and attempted three times to liberatecloture motion must be seasoned, meaning that it
Cuba. Walker, from Tennessee, annexed parts ofcannot be acted upon until the second day after it is
Mexico, including Lower California, and declared himselfpresented.
to be president. The U.S. government did not supportOne hour after the cloture motion has matured on the
Walker and eventually brought him to trial.third day the presiding officer interrupts the Senate
The era of the Filibuster Movement ended when theproceedings and presents the cloture motion to the
U.S. Civil War started. Attention and resources wereSenate for a vote. At this point an automatic roll call
given to the defense of the North and the South,vote is required.
ending the efforts of the filibuster campaigns.In 1975 the Senate voted to change the number of
Filibuster as a Political Toolvotes needed to invoke cloture to 60% from the
During the period from 1840 to 1860, numerousprevious 67%. A compromise was struck, however,
Southern politicians made long speeches during Senatebecause some Senators feared that if changing the
floor debates on legislation bills for the purpose ofRule was too easy that the majority needed to invoke
delaying the bill or preventing a vote on the bill. Thecloture might be reduced further in the future.
word filibuster was borrowed to describe theseTherefore, the Senate agreed that to make future rule
speeches, which were thought of as piracy of timechanges, including changing the cloture rule itself, would
and opportunity. Henry Clay, in 1841, gave what isrequire the traditional 67% majority vote.
considered to be the first filibuster speech.If the motion to invoke cloture is defeated the
As the debate over the slavery issue became moreSenators can reconsider the vote or file a new motion
important in Congress, southern politicians used theto invoke cloture. For example, in 1988 there were
tactic of long dilatory speeches to block all civil rightseight cloture motions on a campaign finance reform bill
legislation. The word filibuster became popularizedand all eight motions were defeated.
during this pre-Civil War period.If a motion to invoke cloture is successful, then the
Legislative Ruleseffect of invoking cloture only guarantees that a vote
The U.S. Constitution did not give direction to the Houseon the question will take place eventually, but not
of Representatives or to the Senate regarding how toimmediately. After the successful cloture motion has
conduct everyday business and how to conductpassed the Senate is said to be working under cloture.
debates on the floor. Each body was expected toRule XXII imposes a maximum cap of 30 additional
create and adopt their own rules.hours for debate, quorum calls, parliamentary inquiries,
On day 2 of the first Senate meeting a specialand other proceedings prior to an actual vote on the
committee was created to "prepare a system of rulesquestion. During this cloture period each Senator is
for conducting business." A few days later, on April 7,entitled to speak for a total of not more than one hour.
1789, the special committee filed their first rules reportOnce cloture has been invoked under Rule XXII, the
and on April 16, 1789, the Senate adopted their first setpoint of a filibuster is largely lost. Without exception,
of rules. The first set contained 19 rules and on April 18proceedings are wrapped up in less than 30 hours and
number 20 was adopted. At this point the specialthe question is brought to a vote.
committee was disbanded.Conclusion
The rules committee was recreated on severalThe filibuster speech in the Senate has enjoyed a long
occasions during succeeding years for the purpose oftradition and has been used for several purposes. On
creating new rules or revising existing rules. Since 1789one hand the filibuster has been used to persuade
there have been 7 adoptions of new or revised rules;others of the validity of the minority position on a
in 1806, 1820, 1828, 1877, 1884, and 1979. Some rulesquestion. Open and unlimited debate can change minds
have been amended and passed by the Senateand sway opinion. The filibuster speech process may
without going to a committee. The change to Rule XXIIhelp to defeat an issue once a vote is taken.
in 1917 to provide for a cloture procedure is a goodOn the other hand, the filibuster has been used to stall
example. There currently are a total of 43 Standingor prevent a vote on an issue. The filibuster speech or
Rules of the Senate.the threat of a filibuster may cause the issue to be
The House Rules and Manual of the U.S. House oftabled or withdrawn and not brought to a vote on the
Representatives does not allow for filibuster speeches.floor.
Each Representative is allowed to hold the floor toThe minority party in the Senate counts on the use of
debate a question for one hour and may only speakthe filibuster as a means to prevent the majority party
once on each question. The House is a large body andfrom wielding too much influence. Such a tool
the members thought it wise to limit the amount ofencourages the two major parties in the Senate to
time that a Representative may speak.work in nonpartisan ways to resolve differences. The
The Senate is an entirely different situation, however.filibuster creates a need for compromise. It has been
Senate Rule XIXsuggested that without the filibuster tool the Senate
Rule XIX is the key rule that provides a structure forwould be much less productive in producing legislation.
debate on the Senate floor. A key provision of the rule