Additional findings and sense of the House of Representatives with respect to the filibuster

(a) Findings The House of Representatives finds the following: (1) The Framers of the Constitution intended both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate to operate as majoritarian deliberative bodies of equal constitutional standing. (2) The current Senate filibuster, as practiced under the two-track system established in the 1970s, is not a deliberative mechanism but a procedural veto device enabling a minority of senators to prevent floor votes without engaging in any form of substantive debate. (3) The current Senate filibuster is contrary to the Framers’ intent that ordinary legislation be subject to majority rule in each chamber, as demonstrated by the text of the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and the records of the Constitutional Convention. (4) The Senate filibuster prevents legislation passed by the House of Representatives from receiving proper deliberative consideration in the Senate, subverting the bicameral design of article I of the Constitution. (5) The Senate filibuster unconstitutionally disenfranchises Members of the House of Representatives and the constituents they represent by rendering House majority action without meaningful legislative consequence. (6) The Senate filibuster, as currently practiced, disrupts the proper constitutional balance between the two co-equal chambers of Congress. (b) Sense of the House It is the sense of the House of Representatives that— (1) the United States Senate should reform or abolish its cloture and filibuster rules to restore the principle of majority rule to Senate proceedings on legislation; (2) the Senate should establish procedures ensuring that legislation passed by a majority of the House of Representatives receives a timely floor vote in the Senate, with final disposition determined by a majority of Senators present and voting; (3) Senate rules should preserve the minority’s right to be heard and to offer amendments, while ensuring that the minority cannot permanently prevent a majority from acting; (4) the constitutional design of two co-equal majoritarian chambers requires that both the House and the Senate operate on the fundamental principle that, after adequate deliberation, a majority determines the outcome; and (5) Congress as a whole is best served by procedural rules in both chambers that facilitate deliberation, accountability, and majority governance, consistent with the constitutional vision articulated by the Framers of the Constitution.