Lamar Alexander

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

Alexis De Tocqueville, the young Frenchman who wandered through the United States in 1831 and 1832 and wrote the best book yet on Democracy in America, saw two great dangers for the young country: Russia and the tyranny of the majority. — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

And the filibuster—the right to talk your head off until you force a broad agreement—is the preeminent tool we use to force those passions into a compromise that most of us can vote for and that the country can live with. — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

That is why the framers created the Senate, to be the cooling saucer for the passions that President Washington talked about. — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

Is such back and forth and back and forth what a fractured country really needs? — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

But what about when the other party is in charge and the freight train roars in the other direction, this time to impose National Right to Work, Pro Life and Gun Rights laws? — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

This is very appealing—if you are in the majority of the moment. — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

Let the passions of the people roar through the Senate. If you’re a Democrat: Abolish right-to-work laws. Repeal limits on abortion. Pass restriction on guns. — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

Now, some advocate another way to operate the Senate. End the filibuster, the Senate’s best-known tradition. Don’t worry about working across party lines. Pass everything with a majority vote. — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

And most of these laws were enacted during divided government, when the presidency and at least one body of Congress were of different political parties. — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

But those laws didn’t just pass. They passed by wide margins. The country accepted them. And they are going to be there for a long time. — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

Enacting these laws took a long time, much palavering, many amendments and many years. Too many years, civil rights leaders, patients, students, songwriters and conservationists would say. — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

And this year, the Great American Outdoors Act, the most important conservation and outdoor recreation law in 50 years. https://t.co/9GzNIf5ZjA — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

In 2018, a once in a generation change in the copyright laws so songwriters could be paid fairly. https://t.co/vL7U9pBaLT — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

We needed a Senate in 2013 to tie student loan interest rates to market rates, saving borrowers hundreds of billions of dollars. https://t.co/6bb2YBuova — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

To pass the 21st Century Cures Act—moving medical miracles faster into patients’ lives—that bill ran off the tracks every two or three days. https://t.co/WpLbBBFhJd — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

More recently, to fix No Child Left Behind—there were 100 alligators in that swamp. It was a law so hard to pass that President @BarackObama called it “a Christmas Miracle,” when, in the end, 85 senators voted for it. https://t.co/IC9t45Bzyl — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

In the 1930s, the country needed the Senate to create Social Security. After World War II, to create the United Nations. In the 1960s, Medicare. In 1978, to ratify the Panama Canal Treaty. — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

That’s why the motto above the presiding officer’s desk is not just one word, “pluribus.” It is “E pluribus unum, out of many, one.” More than ever, our country needs a United States Senate to turn pluribus into unum, to lead the American struggle to forge unity from diversity. — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

But the main purpose of the Senate is to work across party lines to force broad agreements on hard issues – creating laws that most of us can vote for and that a diverse country will accept. — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

The passions of the people would roar through the Senate like a freight train, like they do in the House of Representatives. — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

Presidents would like it. They would get their way more easily if we ended the requirement that 60 senators vote to cut off debate before we vote on a legislative issue. — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

Ending the filibuster would destroy the impetus in the United States Senate to force broad agreements on hard issues and unleash the tyranny of the majority to steam roll the minority. — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

It's been a great privilege to serve the people in Tennessee, as governor and in the United States Senate. Tune in at 10:30 AM ET for my farewell address to the U.S. Senate. Watch live here: https://t.co/eTcAeyLnCu — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

I’m also glad we’re also moving ahead with mountain bike trails on the Foothills Parkway right-of-way in Sevier County. These new bike trails will help even more Tennesseans enjoy the outdoors. https://t.co/THYoCru77s — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

So, I’m thrilled about the 50-75 miles of new mountain bike trails in Cocke County in the Cherokee National Forest. — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

Cocke County is one of the most economically distressed counties in Tennessee, and this investment will help increase the tourism industry in Cocke County by bringing more of the visitors who come to the Smokies and the Cherokee National Forest each year to the area. — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

I was glad to join @GovBillLee and others to announce a $6 million federal grant from the @ARCgov to construct 50-75 miles of mountain bike trails in Cocke County that will help encourage more people that visit the @GreatSmokyNPS to come through Cocke County. https://t.co/KNPILefGZn — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

“More people than ever are visiting emergency rooms and health clinics, and COVID-19 rates are booming in the state’s rural areas. That’s usually the perfect recipe for financially devastating surprise medical bills.” -@MaeBeavers https://t.co/vLpdnzGgrD — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

In today’s @Tennessean: Congress should support the bipartisan surprise medical bill compromise that I helped introduce and is supported by three committees in the U.S. House and Senate.   https://t.co/vLpdnzGgrD — PolitiTweet.org

Lamar Alexander @SenAlexander

My statement on the presidential election. https://t.co/TwmjCM64vy — PolitiTweet.org