E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 111 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 155 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2009 No. 120 House of Representatives The House was not in session today. Its next meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 8, 2009, at 2 p.m. Senate TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2009 The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was to the Senate from the President pro Room. As a reminder to all Senators, called to order by the Honorable RO- tempore (Mr. BYRD). the filing deadline for second-degree LAND W. BURRIS, a Senator from the The legislative clerk read the fol- amendments is 10:15 this morning. We State of Illinois. lowing letter: have every belief we can complete the U.S. SENATE, Agriculture appropriations bill today. I PRAYER PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, hope so because as soon as we finish The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- Washington, DC, August 4, 2009. that we are going to move to the nomi- fered the following prayer: To the Senate: nation of Sonia Sotomayor to be an As- Let us pray. Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, sociate Justice of the Supreme Court of Eternal God, we are grateful for Your of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby the United States. mercies renewed every morning and for appoint the Honorable ROLAND W. BURRIS, a Your faithfulness every night. As the Senator from the State of Illinois, to per- f form the duties of the Chair. dew refreshes the Earth morning by MEASURE PLACED ON THE morning, let Your spirit restore the ROBERT C. BYRD, President pro tempore. CALENDAR—H.R. 3435 faith and energy of our lawmakers. Give them the discernment to under- Mr. BURRIS thereupon assumed the Mr. REID. Mr. President, H.R. 3435 is stand the challenges of our times and Chair as Acting President pro tempore. at the desk. It is my understanding it the wisdom to devise ways to meet f is due for a second reading. them. Lord, keep them open and alert The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY to Your providential leading, as You pore. The clerk will report the bill by guide them to a destination that will LEADER title for the second time. bring glory to Your Name. May the col- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- The legislative clerk read as follows: lective talents of our Senators be mobi- pore. The majority leader is recog- A bill (H.R. 3435) making supplemental ap- lized in the awesome task of building a nized. propriations for fiscal year 2009 for the Con- sumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Pro- better Nation and world. Make their f hands ready to lift burdens and their gram. hearts eager to respond in service to SCHEDULE Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent humanity. Mr. REID. Mr. President, following that any further proceedings in this We pray in Your great Name. Amen. leader remarks, we will resume consid- matter not proceed. I object. f eration of the Agriculture appropria- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- pore. Objection is heard. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE tions bill, with the time until 10:30 equally divided and controlled between The bill will be placed on the cal- The Honorable ROLAND W. BURRIS led the two managers or their designees. endar. the Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: At 10:30, the Senate will proceed to a f I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the series of two rollcall votes in relation United States of America, and to the Repub- SOTOMAYOR NOMINATION lic for which it stands, one nation under God, to the pending McCain amendments. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Following the votes, the Senate will re- Mr. REID. Mr. President, a long 10 cess until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weeks ago, President Obama made his- f weekly caucus luncheons. The time tory when he nominated the Nation’s APPOINTMENT OF ACTING will be expanded a little bit today be- first Hispanic to be a Justice of the PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE cause the Democrats are going to the U.S. Supreme Court, and only the third The PRESIDING OFFICER. The White House for the caucus today, woman. This week, the Senate will clerk will please read a communication rather than here in the Mansfield make history when we confirm her. ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S8709 . VerDate Nov 24 2008 02:29 Oct 22, 2009 Jkt 079060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0637 Sfmt 0634 E:\RECORD09\RECFILES\S04AU9.REC S04AU9 mmaher on DSK69SOYB1PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE S8710 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE August 4, 2009 Judge Sonia Sotomayor is an Amer- firming judges has become in recent mittee should be commended for it. As ican of tremendous qualifications. years very politicized. Whose fault is we begin final consideration, our goal Both her academic record and her ca- it? It is probably the fault of both should be the same: Those who support reer experience are second to none. She sides. It is something that just got out the nomination will make their case, graduated summa cum laude from of hand. Hopefully, we can bring it those who oppose it will make theirs, Princeton University and went on to do back to where it has been in the past. and then we will vote, fulfilling our as well at Yale, where she was a mem- I have tried during the time I have constitutional responsibility with the ber of the Law Review. She has served been the majority leader to allow full seriousness and the deliberation the as a prosecuting attorney, a lawyer in and firm debate. There have been lim- American people expect. private practice; she was on the trial ited instances out of necessity where Over several weeks, I have outlined bench and an appellate judge. After she we haven’t had full opportunities to my concerns about the nominee in is confirmed, she will be the only Jus- amend pieces of legislation. That is the some detail. Once the hearing was over, tice in the current Supreme Court with way it used to be when I came here, I said that those concerns had only experience as a trial judge—experience and that is the way I hope it is going to multiplied. But the primary reason I that I believe will be valuable to her be in the future. will not support this nomination, as I colleagues. In light of the battle we have had in have already said, is because I cannot One of the objections people have had the past over the so-called nuclear op- support the so-called empathy standard about the makeup of the Court is that tion, I appreciate the sentiments of a upon which Judge Sotomayor was se- people come with basically no experi- number of Senators. LINDSEY GRAHAM lected and to which she, herself, has ence in the courtroom other than the is an example. LINDSEY GRAHAM has subscribed in her writings and rulings. appellate judges who sit in back rooms had editorials all over the country As I have said, the empathy standard and listen to arguments once in a while written on his behalf. Columns have is a very fine quality. And I have no and not in a courtroom listening to been written in major newspapers in doubt that Senator Obama, now Presi- cases being presented, sustaining and Nevada complimenting the Senator dent Obama, had very good intentions overruling objections, and listening to from South Carolina for the state- when he made the case for a so-called arguments to the jury. They simply ments he made regarding this judicial empathy standard as a Senator, a can- have not had that experience. She has. problem we have now. didate, and now as President. But when She has developed a 17-year record as a I am disappointed that not more of it comes to judging—when it comes to moderate, mainstream judge. my colleagues on the other side of the judging—empathy is only good if you When the judge testified before the aisle are likely to vote for this out- are lucky enough to be the person or Senate Judiciary Committee for 4 standing nominee, particularly in light group for whom the judge in question grueling days, she respectfully and of her record and qualifications, but has empathy. In those cases, it is the thoroughly answered questions from maybe in the future things will get bet- judge, not the law, which determines both sides of the aisle—Democrats and ter. I am, however, grateful for the re- the outcome. That is a dangerous road Republicans. This week, the Senate spect my colleagues have shown her to go down if you believe, as I do, in a will debate her nomination. It will be a throughout this process, even those nation not of men but of laws. fair debate. It will be a full debate. who have said they are not going to Judge Sotomayor has impressed all I appreciate the statements from my vote for her. of us with her life story, but if empa- colleagues on the other side of the aisle I look forward to voting to confirm thy is the new standard, then the bur- who have said they will vote to confirm Judge Sotomayor as soon as we can so den is on nominees such as she who are her to the Supreme Court.