Sessions rises to support Cruz’s ‘filibuster’

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September 25, 2013

(Above: highlights of Sen. Sessions participation in Sen. Cruz’s filibuster on the Senate floor)

WASHINGTON – On Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, joined a handful of his Republican colleagues in participating in Sen. Ted Cruz’s, R-Texas, “filibuster” on the Senate floor.

Sessions participated in a nearly half-hour back-and-forth Cruz. Beginning with Cruz’s cue “we need to make DC listen,” Sessions recalled the overwhelming support he has received from Alabamians in favor of defunding the president’s healthcare law.

“I want to thank you for having the courage to stand here and raise the concerns that I’m hearing all over my state,” Sessions said to Cruz. “I had three separate meetings in August…with small business groups [in Alabama]. It’s difficult to overstate the concerns they have with this legislation. They tell me without a doubt it’s impacting their willingness to hire… They are struggling to get by. They are laying off people, and they’re not happy about it. They say this bill alone is the primary thing that’s hampering them in this country… We have just got to use the opportunities we have to confront this issue and talk about it and try to force some changes and improvements. And so I appreciate you. And I’m going to support you.”

Sessions in his closing remarks called ObamaCare “one of the most historic damaging bills” of the last 100 years and vowed to stand should-to-shoulder with Cruz in his efforts to defund it.

“I intend to support you, and I’m not going to vote to move a bill where we are sure we’re going to be blocked from having any meaningful discussion on one of the most historic damaging bills in maybe the last 100 years that would basically move us to single-payer, government-run socialized medicine,” Sessions said. “And I think that’s where we’re heading… The House has… repeatedly acted to fix this legislation that’s so damaging, but the Senate, the Democratic Senate, refuses to act, refuses to listen. And that’s the problem I have. One way I have to express that is to support your position. So thank you very much and good luck.”

The full 28-minute conversation on the Senate floor between Sessions and Cruz can be seen below.