Photo courtesy Val Demings/Facebook
Val Demings wrote an op-ed condemning the Senate filibuster in 'USA Today.'
As the filibuster has been used in the Senate more and more frequently to block ever-more-popular legislation, many Democrats have called for bringing the anti-democratic practice to an end. House rep and Senate hopeful Val Demings is making the end of the filibuster a key part of her campaign to oust current senator Marco Rubio.
Demings wrote an op-ed against the practice, which allows a minority of senators to gum up the business of the Senate and stalls countless bills that can't receive a supermajority of votes, in the pages of USA Today. In her piece, she argued that the filibuster is antithetical to representative democracy.
"The filibuster threatens the freedoms of every American, no matter the color of your skin, your gender, ZIP code, political party, or how much money you have (or don’t have) in the bank," she wrote. "The filibuster doesn't just mean a minority of senators can block critical legislation on everything from voting rights to the minimum wage. The filibuster undermines the basic principle that makes our democracy work: government of the people, by the people, for the people."
Going on to cite arguments of the Founding Fathers and note times that the filibuster was used to stall widely popular reforms, Demings makes a case against the "once-obscure Senate procedure" that is currently keeping major legislation from moving through Congress.
"When we allow a political faction to block critical legislation, it takes away that voice from the voters," she wrote. "No matter your political party, you should know that when you win a free and fair election, your representatives can govern."
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