Filibustering in the senate

            A filibuster is one of the many tactics used in the United States senate in order to prevent a measure from being brought to a vote. This is used during a debate in order to sway the opinions of senate members as to gain votes to the side of which the person is filibustering for. The most common form of a filibuster is when a senator is attempting to delay or completely prevent a vote from on a bill and he or she does so by extending the debate. The senator is allowed to debate or talk about his or her stance on the issue for as long as he or she can continue to talk. There has even been instances where there are cots brought in for the senators to sleep on so that when one person is done filibustering the other senators can just jump right in and debate against the previous filibuster. In order to end a filibuster without the actual senator stopping by themselves there has to be a ¾ majority or 60 out of 100 senators vote to invoke cloture. In the past, filibustering has been used in the house of representatives as well as in the senate but revisions to the house rules limit debate, in the senate debate continued on the grounds that any senator had the right to debate as long as he or she wanted or felt necessary on any issue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filibuster_in_the_United_States_Senate
https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Filibuster_Cloture.htm