Mike Lee

And although we'd love to pick up that many, we can't be guaranteed that we'll get there in time.

I think this is an appropriate place to restore the talking filibuster to make senators actually speak if they want to filibuster a bill.

A filibuster has long been used since the dawn of the Republic, the creation of the US Senate.

It's been used as a tool by which senators have procedural rights to theoretically unlimited debate.

But throughout time, it's been understood that that requires you to actually speak because that's what the right is.

It's about speaking, about debating through speaking.

That's it.

That is exactly right.

And you keep going until those who are filibustering...

exhaust themselves until they are exhausted and they can't go any further.

There are some limits on it.

You can speak only twice on the same legislative matter on the same legislative day.

We can remain in the same legislative day for weeks or even months on end.

And that has happened for prolonged periods of time in the past.

But over the last few decades, we've sort of lost that part of it.

And we have allowed senators to have the benefits of filibustering without actually going to the Senate chamber, standing up, getting recognized, and speaking.

And so it's become what I refer to as the zombie filibuster.

So you have these two concepts.

You've got the zombie filibuster.

You just say, nah, I don't like that bill.