Time to end the filibuster

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To the Editor:

We believe now is the time to end the filibuster. Our Oak Bluffs Democratic Town Committee members believe that the filibuster is an age-old relic of our nation’s pro-slavery and Jim Crow past. It has been used to obstruct every piece of civil rights legislation that has gone forward. 

The filibuster was originally used by former South Carolina Senator John Calhoun with the intent of empowering the planter class and blocking progress on ending slavery. The framers never intended the filibuster to be in the Constitution, nor is the filibuster part of a constitutional amendment.

In the 20th century, the filibuster was primarily used to block civil rights legislation. One only has to remember Strom Thurmond’s 24-hour filibuster of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, or the collusion of Southern Democrats on the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that involved Senators Strom Thurmond, Richard Russell, Sam Ervin, Robert Byrd, and William Fulbright. Fortunately both bills eventually were passed into law, but we cannot afford to wait any longer. We Democrats need to make bold strides with big ideas.

While President Biden’s $1.9 trillion dollar COVID relief bill is able to pass under budget

reconciliation, bills such as the John Lewis Voting Rights Act will not pass without putting an end to the filibuster. We have asked our own senators, Warren and Markey, to work to end the filibuster, and we urge all senators to do the same.

 

Marie Doubleday

On behalf of the Oak Bluffs Democratic Town Committee