Democrats break GOP AIDS bill filibuster

Republican senators had been holding up S. 2731, the Lantos/Hyde Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008. Sixty "yes" votes had been needed to pass a motion to close debate in order to break the Republican filibuster. On Friday, of 51 Democrats, 41 (80%) voted "yes", 10 (20%) were absent; of 49 Republicans, 24 (49%) voted "yes", 3 (6%) voted "no", and 22 (45%) were absent.

If the entire Senate had voted in the proportion that the Democrats did, the filibuster would never have begun; if the entire Senate had voted in the proportion that the Republicans did, the AIDS bill would still be stalled.

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