Congressman Holt joins student filibuster at Frist

U.S. Representative Rush Holt (D-N.J.) joined nearly 200 protestors outside Frist Campus Center this afternoon, traveling from Washington, D.C., to participate in a student-run filibuster that has garnered national attention as it continues into its fourth straight day.

Holt read from Aesop's Fables in a symbolic protest of a push by Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist '74 to change Senate rules to make it more difficult for Democrats to block judicial nominees.

"You might have noticed a theme from the fables," Holt said. "Be careful what you wish for."

It was the same selection Holt's father, Senator Rush Holt (D-WVa), read to block a coal industry regulation bill in 1936.

"We have right now in Washington some people operating out of arrogance who think they know best," Holt said. "But they're tinkering with something very serious here."

Since Tuesday morning, dozens of students and community activists have braved rain and the occasional Public Safety interruption to read from such works as the Princeton phonebook and the Declaration of Independence, as a live webcam records their progress.

The filibuster, which has entered its 78th continuous hour, has been followed on prominent liberal blogs and has been featured on CNN, the AP wire and the nationally syndicated Thom Hartmann radio show.

Nobel prizewinning physicist Frank Wilczek GS '75 is set to join the protest tonight, after plasma physicist Ed Witten and his wife, physics professor Chiara Nappi, participated yesterday.

Organizers also plan to start a cell phone rally for students to place calls to U.S. Senators, encouraging them to support the filibuster.

Frist's proposed rule change would allow a simple majority of 51 senators to approve a judicial nominee, rather than the 60 currently needed to end a filibuster. Though Frist has offered Democrats limited filibuster rights for lower court nominees, he has continued to demand an end to the filibuster for appellate and higher court nominations.

Frist's family donated $25 million to create Frist Campus Center.

In his speech, Holt defended the importance of the filibuster as a guarantee of minority rights.

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"The filibuster is not just a curiosity," he said. "It's the best protection against the tyranny of the majority — a very real, potential tyranny."

"Any fool can design a government run by the majority," he added. "What is very hard is to design a government self-governed by the people, representing majority rule, that protects the rights of minorities.

In an interview after his talk, Holt said he hopes Princeton's involvement will have more than a symbolic effect. "Here, you can protest in the name of someone who can affect this," he said. "Maybe you can get his attention."

Asheesh Siddique '07, one of the event's organizers, said Holt's presence "gives a tremendous boost to this effort."

"It increases our legitimacy, and shows that we're really serious about our message," he said.

Protestors have a permit until at least May 4, and volunteers have signed up to read until Monday night, according to Juan Melli-Huber GS, one of the organizers of the filibuster.

"We have no plans to stop as long as the people keep talking and talking and talking," he said.

Karen Wolfgang '06 also plans to post an information sheet online so that students at other campuses can hold similar filibusters.

"People are really tuned into this," Wolfgang said. "I think we can be a catalyst for something bigger."

Students involved said that even if it does not affect national policy, it has at least succeeded in galvanizing campus interest in politics.

Robert Glasgow '07 said he has spent a total of seven hours filibustering so far. "I'm not American, I'm Canadian, but I know how important minority opinion is," he said. "If one side gets absolute control, the system is bound to collapse."

"This is an innovative protest for a great cause," he said. "Plus, I really like talking."

— Includes reporting by Princetonian Senior Writer Chanakya Sethi.