Prepared Floor Remarks by U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa
On the Role of the Senate
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
I’ve heard a lot about how the Senate isn’t taking up House bills, as though the Senate is supposed to be a rubber stamp.
We just celebrated Constitution Day last week. Maybe it’s time for a reminder about how the Founding Fathers intended the Senate to work.
In Federalist 62, James Madison wrote, “The necessity of a senate is not less indicated by the propensity of all single and numerous assemblies to yield to the impulse of sudden and violent passions, and to be seduced by factious leaders into intemperate and pernicious resolutions.”
There are over 80 bills that have passed both houses, but there are some that can’t pass the Senate. That’s how it’s supposed to be.