A senator follows through with his promise to shut down Senate business by talking on and on. This filibuster is aimed at an appointment made by Governor Blunt to the University of Missouri Board of Curators. Senator Matt Bartle (R-Lee’s Summit) springs to his feet as soon as the gubernatorial appointments come to the Senate floor for approval, objecting to the appointment of Warren Erdman to the board. Bartle says he explained his opposition to Erdman in person. Bartle says Erdman is too tied to stem cell research to be qualified for a seat on the board that governs the four-campus University of Missouri system. Bartle is critical of Erdman’s support of embryonic stem cell research and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), which Bartle claims is human cloning.
Politics plays a role as well. Erdman, a Republican, opposed Bartle’s re-election and Bartle accuses Erdman of recruiting a candidate to run against him in the Republican primary last August. Bartle, of course, defeated his primary opponent and won in the general election. Bartle vows to keep talking until the Senate withdraws Erdman’s nomination. Senate leaders show no signs of relenting and plan to wait Bartle out.
