Senator Lamar Alexander, and current and former former Senate staff members talked about the history and use of the Senate filibuster. Senator Alexander argued in favor of keeping the filibuster rules in their current form, citing in his remarks former Senator Robert Byrd's calling the filibuster a "fence" of the Senate that protects against executive branch over-reach. Panelists who followed Senator Alexander supported his position. They responded to audience members' questions after their discussion. This discussion took place one day before the opening of the 112th Congress. Democratic members of the Senate were proposing to alter the filibuster rule on the first day of the new Congress in response to Senate Republicans use of the filibuster in the 111th Congress