Politablog

Sen. Franken has faced a daunting challenge in his first year as a US Senator. He barely won a highly contested and much publicized election with Norm Coleman and is part of a party/movement that is losing momentum rather quickly. Franken has also had to overcome a number of other obstacles. Many people (Republicans) have argued that Franken is unfit to be a Senator because of his previous employment in Hollywood and on Air America as a Radio commentator.

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Freshmen and sophomore Democratic Senators today went to the Senate floor as a group to highlight the Republican obstructionism on nominations. As of this morning, there are 88 nominees on the Senate calendar, including posts at the National Labor Relations Board, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Treasury and the Army. “This is a perversion of the filibuster and a perversion of the role of the Senate,” said Sen. Al Franken. “It used to be that the filibuster was reserved for matters of great principle. Today it has become a way to play out the clock.”

Statement on Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

We’ve been working on this bill for a long time.  I’m proud of what we’re doing, I’m really proud.  Every senator has had his or her chance to speak up and help make this a better bill, or to make their case against the bill.

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