Politicians join Frist filibuster

Representatives Rush Holt (D-N.J.) and Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) joined dozens of protestors outside Frist Campus Center this weekend to participate in a student-run filibuster that has garnered national attention as it continues into its seventh straight day today.

The congressmen, who traveled to campus separately, are the most prominent figures to date to speak at the student protest.

The "Frist filibuster" — a symbolic rally against a push by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist '74 to make it more difficult for Democrats to block judicial nominees — is being held in front of the building for which the Frist family donated $25 million.

On Friday, Holt read from Aesop's Fables, the same selection his father, Senator Rush Holt (D-WVa.), read to block a coal industry regulation bill in 1936.

"You might have noticed a theme from the fables: Be careful what you wish for," Holt said to a crowd of almost 200 students.

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

On Sunday, Pallone, whose 10-year-old son Frank also participated by reading from "Goosebumps," called the Senate "the last bastion of consensus, deliberation and bipartisanship." If minority voices are not heard, he argued, "half the country is disenfranchised."

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 continued for more than 130 hours, has been followed on prominent liberal blogs and featured on CNN, the AP wire and the nationally syndicated Thom Hartmann radio show. The students' protest is also featured in today's Washington Post.

Nobel prizewinning physicist Frank Wilczek GS '75 joined the protest Friday, after plasma physicist Ed Witten GS '76 and his wife, physics professor Chiara Nappi, participated Thursday.

Organizers also began 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 end debate on judicial nominees, rather than the 60 currently needed. 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.

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

"The filibuster is not just a curiosity," he said. "The filibuster rule is the best protection in the rules of the Senate 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, 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."

Pallone, whose children joined him at the event, said, "The American public does care about the filibuster. At the same time, I'm not sure people fully understand the phenomenon. So to the extent you're bringing attention to this, that's very important."

Eliminating the filibuster would be "an abuse of power by the majority," he added in an interview. "That is exactly what the framers were trying to prevent."

Asheesh Siddique '07, one of the event's organizers, said the representatives' 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 through Tuesday, according to Juan Melli-Huber GS, one of the filibuster organizers.

"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 the filibuster 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. "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." Related stories: — Filibuster continues at Frist (April 29, 2005) — Frist protest continues for third day (April 28, 2005) — Students protest Frist at Frist (April 27, 2005)