IV 
114TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. RES. 431 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in disapproval of the 
Senate’s modern filibuster rule. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 18, 2015 
Mr. GRIFFITH (for himself, Mr. WITTMAN, Mr. FLORES, Mr. GOODLATTE, 
Mr. CULBERSON, Mr. WESTERMAN, Mr. ABRAHAM, and Mr. BURGESS) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Rules 
RESOLUTION 
Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives in 
disapproval of the Senate’s modern filibuster rule. 
Whereas the Founding Fathers never intended for a signifi-
cant portion of the Senate’s business to be able to be 
blocked by a minority; 
Whereas the modern filibuster/cloture rule undermines the 
noble principles upon which this Nation was founded; 
Whereas the historic filibuster rule required 60 votes to stop 
debate if a Senator was standing in the well of the Sen-
ate debating a bill; 
Whereas in the 1970s the rule was changed to allow Senators 
to place an anonymous hold by making a request to the 
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•HRES 431 IH 
Senate Majority Leader to simply announce their inten-
tion to filibuster; 
Whereas today a Senator no longer has to be present to fili-
buster a bill on the Senate floor, meaning it requires a 
supermajority to begin debate rather than to end debate; 
Whereas the Senate’s rule XXII, known as the cloture rule, 
requires 16 Senators to initiate the process to end debate 
by introducing a motion; 
Whereas once the cloture motion is made, it requires the 
votes of at least three-fifths of all Senators (normally 60 
votes), or a supermajority, to invoke cloture; 
Whereas the Republic of these United States based on demo-
cratic principles cannot long survive if the vast majority 
of issue legislation requires a supermajority in order to 
advance; 
Whereas both Democrats and Republicans have used the 
modern filibuster/cloture rule to stall legislative policy 
that a majority might otherwise support; 
Whereas the current Senate modern filibuster/cloture rule has 
been a major reason for the gridlock in recent years; 
Whereas nearly all Senate business as a result of the modern 
Senate filibuster/cloture rule requires 60 votes to process, 
a high hurdle that runs counter to the intent of our Na-
tion’s Founding Fathers; 
Whereas the House of Representatives passes legislation that 
the Senate may not agree with completely, but as a result 
of the modern Senate filibuster/cloture rule, the Senate 
is 
essentially 
limited 
from 
making 
a 
legislative 
counteroffer to the House; 
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•HRES 431 IH 
Whereas eliminating the modern filibuster/cloture rule will 
allow more legislation passed by the House to be voted 
on in the Senate and, thus, more compromises can be 
reached; 
Whereas the historical filibuster rule is a better way for a 
Democratic-Republican form of government to function; 
and 
Whereas the historical filibuster rule is how the process is in-
tended to work, and it is essential to building the con-
sensus and compromise expected of its leaders by the 
American people: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) expresses its firm disapproval of the Sen-
ate’s modern filibuster rule; 
(2) urges the Senate to abandon the modern fil-
ibuster rule and return to the historical filibuster 
rule, thereby ending the process of anonymous holds; 
and 
(3) reaffirms its commitment to work with the 
Senate to end gridlock and pass legislation through 
regular order, including resolving legislative dif-
ferences via conference committee, to complete the 
work that the American people expect from its Con-
gress. 
Æ 
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