Mr. Galston let me try to call this full house to order, if i may. Welcome to brookings. My name is bill galston, senior fellow in governance studies. Thanks so much for coming and welcome also to the people who are watching this event live on cspan. Todays topic is the past, the present, and possible future of the u. S. Senate. The occasion of this discussion is the publication of ira shapiros second book on the senate, this is entitled, broken can the senate save itself and the country . Those of you that read his first book on the senate will know how passionately he reveres the senate as an institution and will not be surprised to learn how distressed he is by what he describes as its precipitous decline. This topic could not be more timely. We are just days from the expiration of another short term continuing budget resolution, and perhaps even more pertinently from a promised open Senate Debate on u. S. Immigration policy. Will the promise be kept . And if it is, will todays sena