Received this e-mail today from Senator Mark Udall (D. CO) regarding filibuster reform:
This is great news: Thanks in part to support from folks like you, the U.S. Senate confirmed Gina McCarthy yesterday to lead the Environmental Protection Agency! I’m thrilled she’s been confirmed, and I look forward to working with her on behalf of Colorado.
Senate Republicans finally ended the gridlock and did the right thing. They allowed an up-or-down vote for a number of President Obama’s well-qualified nominees that had been waiting — some for years — to be appointed to their positions.
The confirmations that passed this week were a vital step forward for our country and for President Obama's administration, which needs to be fully staffed in order to carry out the policies that will help our middle class and small businesses. But we still need to confront the underlying problem that allowed the Republican minority to change the Senate’s job from "advise and consent" to obstruct and delay.
It’s time to reform the filibuster. Will you join Senators Mark Begich, Heidi Heitkamp, Jeanne Shaheen, Tom Udall, and me in calling for filibuster reform?
http://reformthefilibusternow.com/...
The Senate also confirmed two other important executive appointments this week — Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Tom Perez to the Department of Labor.
Finally getting an up-or-down vote on the nominees to these critical posts isn’t a victory for Democrats. It’s a victory for the middle class. We need strong leadership at the helm of the agencies charged with preserving our clean air and water, standing up for workers’ rights, and protecting consumers from fraud and unfair Wall Street practices.
These are important jobs, and the American people deserve a timely up-or-down vote on the President’s nominees to fill the posts. But in the current, scorched-earth political climate, who knows how long we’ll have to wait for the next time obstructionists decide to use legislative tricks to grind the people’s business to a halt?
Filibuster reform makes sense, and we need to get it done. If Republicans end this fragile truce, the Senate could be in store for even more obstruction and gridlock.
Let’s keep the pressure on:
http://www.reformthefilibusternow.com
Thanks for your support,
Mark
You can sign Udall's petition here:
http://reformthefilibusternow.com/...