In a passionate speech on the floor of the Senate Tuesday night, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) defended the decision to silence Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) after she violated House rules in her tirade against the nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) for Attorney General. Democrats reacted with feelings of anger and betrayal; but Rubio explained why the silencing action was necessary.
“This has nothing to do with censoring the words of some great heroes,” he said. “I have extraordinary admiration for the men and women who led the civil rights effort in this country and I am self conscious enough or understanding to know that many of the things that have been possible for so many people in this country in the 21st century… this has to do with the fundamental reality and that is that this body [of Congress] cannot do the work if it is not able to conduct debates in a way that is respectful of one another, especially those of us who are in this chamber together.”
Rubio criticized both Democrats and Republicans for what he described as an increasingly polarized political climate in which members of Congress chose personal attacks over debates with the other side. Warren’s attack on Sessions was not outwardly political; it was personal. She attempted to dismiss him as a person of bad character instead of taking apart his specific policy policies.
“I don’t know of a single nation in the history of the world that’s been able to solve problems when half the people in a country absolutely hate the other half of the people in the country,” he said.
Rubio said these sort of attacks were not made on the Senate floor against Hillary Clinton during her bid for Secretary of State, despite that the public had made very personal attacks against her. Neither in 2004, he pointed out, did then-Senator John Kerry face personal attacks on the Senate floor based on things said about him in the media, despite the terrible press he had been getting.
“I know this: if this body isn’t capable of having those debates, there will be no place in this country where those debates can occur. I think every single one of us, to our great shame, will live to regret it,” Rubio concluded.
