Contact: Destiny Edwards, Jessica Cahill, 202-225-4576

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18, 2015 /Standard Newswire/ -- Today, Congressman Franks issued the following statement detailing the dire need for changes to rules controlling the Senate Filibuster:

"The direction of America and the world under the leadership of Barack Obama is alarming to any reasonable observer. To those outside the beltway, Republicans seem weak and unwilling to effectively respond. One of the hidden-in-plain sight reasons for this false perception is the rules and present practices in the United States Senate controlling the parliamentarian instrument of the 'Motion to Proceed to Consider.'

"Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's promise to stop using this first stage of the filibuster for appropriation legislation in 2016 still reserves the right to abuse the 2nd stage of the filibuster. Even if he keeps his word, there is no guarantees Senate Democrats will allow a fair and open debate and vote on important House-passed legislation. It is imperative to recognize Democrats hold the power to either force a government shut down and blame Republicans or dictate spending formulas going forward.

"It is beyond time for Senate Majority Leader McConnell to use the nuclear option to force an adjustment of the filibuster rules to allow fair consideration of legislation regardless of which party holds the Senate. It is otherwise only a matter of time until Democrats push Republicans into the minority and change the rules themselves."

The full text of the treatise can be found here.

Congressman Franks is serving his seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives and is a member of the Judiciary Committee, where he serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution and a member of the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet. He is also a member of the Armed Services Committee, where he serves as Vice-Chairman of the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, and Capabilities and a member of the Strategic Forces Subcommittee.