Restoring Congress: Time to Fix the Filibuster

Walter F. Mondale

U.S. Vice President (1977 - 1981); Senior Counsel, Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Moderated by Professor Larry Jacobs
 

America faces enormous challenges, from budget deficits to national security.  But it is crippled by extraordinary paralysis in Congress, including the unprecedented use of the filibuster.  Congress must be restored to a functioning body.  This will require reform of the filibuster in the Senate to foster needed debate while preventing its misuse to stymie urgent legislation. 

Walter F. Mondale led the last major reform of the filibuster; he will draw on his years in the U.S. Senate and in the White House as Vice President to discuss the need to fix Congress and the filibuster. Mr. Mondale served as a Senator for 12 years. Beyond his service in the U.S. Senate, Mr. Mondale’s record of public service includes Vice President of the United States, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, U.S. Senator and Attorney General for the State of Minnesota. He was also the Democratic Party’s nominee for President in 1984. Mr. Mondale was a Distinguished University Fellow in Law and Public Affairs at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. In 1990, he established the Mondale Policy Forum to bring together leading scholars and policymakers for conferences on domestic and international issues.