Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 109 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 109 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 151 WASHINGTON, FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2005 No. 50 House of Representatives The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Monday, April 25, 2005, at noon. Senate FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 2005 The Senate met at 9:30 a.m. and was to the Senate from the President pro the emergency supplemental appro- called to order by the Honorable JOHN- tempore (Mr. STEVENS). priations bill, which we passed yester- NY ISAKSON, a Senator from the State The legislative clerk read the fol- day by a vote of 99 to 0. We will shortly of Georgia. lowing letter: proceed to a conference in order to U.S. SENATE, produce a final product that will be PRAYER PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, sent to the President. The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- Washington, DC, April 22, 2005. I thank everyone for their attention fered the following prayer: To the Senate: this morning, and I yield the floor. Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, Let us pray. f O God, our Father, You are holy, You of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby appoint the Honorable JOHNNY ISAKSON, a RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME are our strength and shield. Let Your Senator from the State of Georgia, to per- presence be felt in our world. Comfort form the duties of the Chair. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- those brought low by sorrow and uncer- TED STEVENS, pore. Under the previous order, the tainty. Lighten the load for those who President pro tempore. leadership time is reserved. are burdened beyond their resources. Mr. ISAKSON thereupon assumed the f Lift those who are bowed by life’s cir- Chair as Acting President pro tempore. cumstances and sustain those who MORNING BUSINESS f walk through the valley of shadows. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- Today, use Your Senators for Your RECOGNITION OF THE ACTING pore. Under the previous order, there glory. Let Your peace prevail in their MAJORITY LEADER will be a period for the transaction of hearts. May the work of our lawmakers The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- morning business, with Senators per- hasten the day when the nations of the pore. The Senator from Utah is recog- mitted to speak for up to 10 minutes world will live together in dignity and nized. each. harmony. Teach us creative ways to f The Chair recognizes the Senator work for the betterment of humanity. from Colorado. Lord, we will wait for Your mercies in SCHEDULE f the presence of Your people. We pray in Mr. BENNETT. Mr. President, today Your holy Name. Amen. we will have a period for morning busi- JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS f ness to permit Senators to make state- Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I rise PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ments. As announced by the majority this morning to clear up the apparent leader last night, there will be no roll- confusion and misinformation sur- The Honorable JOHNNY ISAKSON led the Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: call votes during today’s session. We rounding the confirmation of judicial hope to begin consideration of the nominations. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Repub- highway bill next week. The majority I hope to shed some light on one of lic for which it stands, one nation under God, leader will have more to say on that our most important obligations and ex- indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. later. Perhaps we will have informa- press to the American people the truth f tion on that schedule by the close of about the partisan obstruction of our business today. constitutional duties. APPOINTMENT OF ACTING As a further reminder, there will be Article II of the Constitution, known PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE no rollcall votes on Monday, which is as the advice and consent clause, re- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The April 25. On behalf of the leadership, I quires Senate approval of judicial clerk will please read a communication thank Senator COCHRAN for his work on nominations. This obligation is only ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S4139 . VerDate Aug 04 2004 23:45 Apr 22, 2005 Jkt 039060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0637 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A22AP6.000 S22PT1 S4140 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE April 22, 2005 fulfilled when the Senate allows an up now ardent supporters of the judicial tally keep the majority from voting on the or down vote on a nominee. filibuster are the same ones who tried merits of a bill. The vote acts as an expression of the to eliminate the filibuster entirely just Now 10 years later, evidently what is body’s ‘‘advice and consent,’’ but this a few years ago, not only on judicial good for the goose can forget about the expression simply cannot occur if it is nominations but on everything, includ- gander. blocked by a filibuster. ing legislative actions. Turning to the issue of Senate rules, I strongly believe that the use of a It is the Democrats who are altering the Democrats claim that changing the filibuster to block judicial nominations history. It is the Democrats who are rules of the Senate is unprecedented, is not only unprecedented minority ob- unleashing a weapon that threatens to that using the Constitution to end the struction but an attack on the Con- alter the traditions and precedent of filibuster is tyranny. stitution itself. the Senate. Again, let me point out another in- The decision to vote on a judicial It is the Democrats who are revising stance where the goose has left the nomination or to obstruct the nominee the history of our Founding Fathers gander. pits the Constitution against a mere and undermining the three branches of The constitutional option is ground- tool of parliamentary procedure; that our separate but equal system of Gov- ed in Article I, Section 5 of the U.S. is the Constitution versus a Senate ernment. Constitution that empowers the Senate rule called the filibuster. For example, from 1789 until 1806 the to ‘‘determine the Rules of its Pro- I urge my colleagues to put our faith Senate had a traditional ‘‘motion for ceedings.’’ in the founding document, not a fili- the previous question’’ in its rules. The Senate has repeatedly exercised buster rule. To do otherwise degrades There was no intention to create a Sen- the constitutional option to define mi- the Constitution and relegates it to the ate where a filibuster was prominent. nority rights, as long ago as 1977, and it level of an arbitrary rule of procedure. The filibuster was not used in any sig- has done so in a Democratic-led major- Let me make it clear. nificant way at all until the 1840’s, and ity. I am not going to stand idly by as it was never used for judicial nomina- The use of a simple majority vote to parliamentary maneuvers run rough- tions. set precedents is as old as the Senate. shod over the Constitution and cen- The Senate’s original cloture rule, in In fact, the constitutional option has turies of Senate practices. 1917, did not even apply to nominations been exercised in 1977, 1979, 1980, and The Republican majority is not es- because no Senator had ever used a fili- 1987. tablishing new precedent. We are sim- buster to block a nomination. It was used in 1977 to end post-cloture ply trying to restore the rights of the Let me repeat that, up until 1917 the filibusters; in 1979 to limit amendments Constitution and the practices that Senate’s original cloture rule didn’t to appropriations bills; in 1980 to gov- this body has observed for over 200 even apply to nominations because no ern consideration of nominations; and years. Senator had ever used a filibuster to If the Senate allows the filibusters of again in 1987 to govern voting proce- block a nomination. judicial nominations to continue, it dures. The rule did not apply, not because will be acquiescing in a minority’s uni- In every instance, the Senate acted the Senate approved of such filibusters lateral change to Senate procedure and independently of the Senate rules in but because Senators never con- practices; requiring 60 votes for the order to change Senate procedures in templated them. the face of obstruction or abuse by a confirmation of judges through the A thorough examination of Senate rules, undermining the Constitution’s minority of Senators. history clearly demonstrates that History clearly shows that it is the requirement for a 50-vote majority. there is no precedent for the Demo- The practical effect is an amendment constitutional option that has been crats’ use of the filibuster to perma- to the Constitution without the ap- used before. It is the use of the fili- nently block the confirmation of judi- proval of the American people. buster that is an unprecedented expan- My colleagues on the other side cial nominations. sion of minority obstruction. would have everyone believe that the Some Democrats claim that Repub- An exercise of the constitutional op- filibuster is being eliminated. But that licans want to destroy the filibuster for tion under the current circumstances simply is not the case. all matters. This is simply not true. would return the Senate to the historic They don’t mention that the fili- What is true is that the only sitting and constitutional confirmation stand- buster never existed on judicial nomi- Members of the Senate on record sup- ard of a simple majority for all judicial nations.