SENATE RULES SAY
Cloture - The only procedure by which the Senate can vote to place a time limit on consideration of a bill or other matter, and thereby overcome a filibuster. Under the cloture rule (Rule XXII), the Senate may limit consideration of a pending matter to 30 additional hours, but only by vote of three-fifths of the full Senate, normally 60 votes.
WHAT IT MEANS
What is Cloture? Cloture is a parliamentary device that sometimes is used in the Senate to bring debate on a question to a "close" (thus, the term, "cloture"). The device is necessary, at times, because in the Senate, most questions are debatable for an unlimited amount of time. In order to shut off a filibuster (which is an attempt by a numerical minority of the senate to prevent a question from coming up for a vote by engaging in unlimited debate), senators must "invoke cloture" on the question. Since invoking cloture on a question denies senators their right to unlimited debate, Senate rules require two days notice of an attempt to invoke cloture on a question, and the rules impose the requirement that three-fifths of the whole number of senators vote in favor of invoking cloture in order to shutdown the debate. Because there are 100 seats in the Senate, three-fifths of that number works out to a 60 vote requirement in order to invoke cloture on a question.
AND FROM WIKIPEDIA
In parliamentary procedure, cloture (pronounced /klotchure/ KLOH-cher) is a motion or process aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. It is also called closure or, informally, a guillotine. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. Clôture is French for "ending" or "conclusion". It was introduced into the Parliament of the United Kingdom by William Ewart Gladstone to overcome the obstruction of the Irish nationalist party and was made permanent in 1887. It was subsequently adopted by the United States Senate and other legislatures.
Note: Special thanks and hat tip to MicEvHill.
Note: Special thanks and hat tip to MicEvHill.
The Course Ahead. The vote on cloture in relation to the DREAM Act is expected to occur sometime on Saturday morning, December 18. If the Senate fails to invoke cloture, the Majority Leader could decide to try again next week if the vote is close and he believes he can succeed at a later time. If cloture is actually invoked, it will trigger a period of 30 hours of debate on the DREAM Act, during which senators can offer amendments to the bill.
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