Events

Luncheon Lecture - Defending the Filibuster: The Soul of the Senate

Authors Richard Arenberg and Robert Dove discuss their new book, Defending the Filibuster: The Soul of the Senate, an informed and spirited defense of the Senate’s tradition of extended debate.

Robert Dove, Parliamentarian Emeritus of the United States Senate, spent thirty-six years on Capitol Hill, thirteen of them as the U.S. Senate "referee." He advised Senators on legislative process and procedures. Dove played a pivotal role in key Senate debates including the impeachment trial of President Clinton and the electoral college decisions in the 2001 presidential election. He is the author of the Senate’s definitive publication, “Enactment of a Law: Procedural Steps in the Legislative Process.”

Richard Arenberg served on Capitol Hill for thirty-four years in senior Congressional staff positions, as a Chief of Staff and Legislative Director for Majority Leader George Mitchell, and Senators Paul Tsongas and Carl Levin. He served on the Senate Iran-Contra Committee and was a key negotiator of the landmark Alaska Lands bill. Arenberg is currently Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy and American Institutions at Brown University’s Taubman Center for Public Policy, Adjunct Lecturer in Political Science at Northeastern University, and Adjunct Lecturer in Government at Suffolk University.