E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 115 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 163 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, APRIL 6, 2017 No. 58—Part III Senate (Legislative day of Tuesday, April 4, 2017) The Senate met at 10 a.m., on the ex- U.S. SENATE, a much larger story, another extreme piration of the recess, and was called to PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, escalation in the left’s never-ending order by the Honorable LUTHER Washington, DC, April 6, 2017. drive to politicize the courts and the To the Senate: STRANGE, a Senator from the State of Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, confirmation process. Alabama. of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby It is a fight they have waged for dec- appoint the Honorable LUTHER STRANGE, a ades with a singular aim: securing raw f Senator from the State of Alabama, to per- power, no matter the cost to country form the duties of the Chair. or institution. It underlies why this PRAYER ORRIN G. HATCH, threatening filibuster cannot be al- The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- President pro tempore. lowed to succeed or continue—for the fered the following prayer: Mr. STRANGE thereupon assumed sake of the Senate, for the sake of the Let us pray. the Chair as Acting President pro tem- Court, and for the sake of our country. O God, our help in ages past, our hope pore. I think a look back through history for years to come, throughout life’s f will help every colleague understand seasons moments of decision arrive. As why. I always had a particular interest EXECUTIVE CALENDAR—Continued our lawmakers prepare to make crit- in the history of judicial nominations. ical decisions, give them the wisdom to RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY LEADER It is an interest that predates my serv- choose the more challenging right that The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- ice here as a Senator. I remember serv- brings the greatest glory to Your pore. The majority leader is recog- ing on the staff of a Senator on the Ju- Name. Supply their needs according to nized. diciary Committee during a time when Your riches in glory. Purify their Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, the two different judicial nominees were thoughts as they strive to do Your will. Senate has considered the nomination being considered. One, Harrold Remind them that those who are faith- of Judge Neil Gorsuch for many weeks Carswell, was voted down on the Sen- ful with little will be faithful with now. We have seen his impressive cre- ate floor—correctly, in my view. An- much. May they seek simply to be dentials. We have reviewed his incred- other, Clement Haynesworth, also faithful in whatever You assign their ible record. We have heard glowing failed to receive the necessary support hands to do, striving to please You praise on a nearly daily basis from col- for confirmation—but in error, I with their work. leagues and students, from judges and thought. We pray in Your great Name. Amen. newspaper editorials, from Democrats It piqued my interest on what advice and from Republicans. and consent should mean in the Sen- f Judge Gorsuch is independent, and he ate, and what it actually meant in is fair. He is beyond qualified, and he practice. I would learn later that I was PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE will make a stellar addition to the Su- witnessing the nascent stirrings of The Presiding Officer led the Pledge preme Court. what would soon become the so-called of Allegiance, as follows: Hardly anyone in the legal commu- judicial wars—the left’s efforts to I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the nity seems to argue otherwise, and yet, transform confirmations from con- United States of America, and to the Repub- our Democratic colleagues appear structive debates over qualifications lic for which it stands, one nation under God, poised to block this incredible nominee into raw ideological struggles with no indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. with the first successful partisan fili- rules or limits. buster in American history. It would be It is a struggle that escalated in ear- f a radical move, something completely nest when Democrats and leftwing spe- unprecedented in the history of our cial interests decided to wage war on APPOINTMENT OF ACTING Senate and out of all proportion to the President Reagan’s nominee in 1987, PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE eminently qualified judge who is actu- Robert Bork. Polite comity went out The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ally before us. But then again, this the window as Democrats launched one clerk will please read a communication isn’t really about the nominee anyway. vicious personal attack after another— to the Senate from the President pro The opposition to this particular nomi- not because Bork lacked qualifications tempore (Mr. HATCH). nee is more about the man who nomi- or suffered some ethical failing, but be- The senior assistant legislative clerk nated him and the party he represents cause his views were not theirs. The read the following letter: than the nominee himself. It is part of Washington Post described it at the ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S2383 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:37 Apr 06, 2017 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G04AP6.288 S04APPT3 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE-3 S2384 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE April 6, 2017 time: ‘‘It’s not just that there has been some on my side wanted to defeat their nees. Then, in 2003, according to the an intellectual vulgarization and per- nominations with a filibuster. The Re- New York Times, he ‘‘recommended sonal savagery to elements of the at- publican leadership said: Let’s not do using an extreme tactic, the fili- tack, profoundly distorting the record that. To their great credit, Majority buster,’’ to block them. and the nature of the man.’’ Leader Lott and Judiciary Chairman ‘‘Mr. Schumer,’’ it said, ‘‘urged As NPR would later observe, the HATCH implored our confidence not to Democratic colleagues in the Senate to left’s ‘‘all-out campaign to defeat the do that. Senator Lott filed cloture on use a tactic that some were initially nomination . legitimized scorched- these nominees to advance the nomina- reluctant to pursue, and that has roiled earth ideological wars over nomina- tion. He, Senator HATCH, and I and a the Senate: a filibuster on the floor of tions at the Supreme Court.’’ vast majority of the Republican Con- the chamber to block votes on nomi- I was there. I saw it all. I remember ference voted for cloture to give them nees that he and other Democrats had the viciousness of it. I also remember an up-or-down vote. We didn’t do this decided to oppose.’’ feeling that the Senate was reaching a because we supported the nominees. In It is hard to express how radical a turning point where a judicial nominee fact, most of us voted against their ac- move that was at that time because it would no longer be evaluated on their tual confirmation, but we thought they completely changed the way the Sen- credentials but on their ideology. That deserved an up-or-down vote. That, ate had handled these nominations for observation, unfortunately, has proven after all, was the tradition of the Sen- our entire history. Even filing cloture correct, with Democrats raising the ate. on a judicial nominee had been rare be- stakes and moving the goalposts each Given that we were in the majority fore then, and actually defeating any step of the way. and these nominations were highly judicial nominee by filibuster, other They certainly did so under the next controversial, our determination not to than the bipartisan opposition to the Republican President, George H.W. filibuster but instead advance them to nomination of Abe Fortas back in 1968, Bush. We all know what happened to an up-or-down vote was not, as you in a Presidential election year was Clarence Thomas. If the gloves were off might imagine, popular with our base. simply unheard of. for Bork, the brass knuckles came out But we resisted the political pressure. No longer. Democrats blocked cloture 21 times for Thomas. Here is how left-leaning Again, we respected the Senate’s tradi- on 10 different circuit court nominees, columnist Juan Williams described the tion against filibustering judicial including on outstanding lawyers like situation: ‘‘To listen or read some news nominees. Miguel Estrada, whose nomination was reports on Thomas over the past month But it would matter little to our filibustered an incredible 7 times. is to discover a monster of a man, to- Democratic friends. These are not inflated statistics like Less than a year later, President tally unlike the human being full of the supposed 78 filibusters our Demo- Bush 43 comes to office. Before he had sincerity, confusion, and struggles cratic colleagues are now alleging oc- whom I saw as a reporter who watched submitted a single judicial nominee, curred during the Obama administra- him for some 10 years.’’ our Democratic colleagues held a re- tion, which include numerous instances That is Juan Williams speaking on treat in Farmington, PA. There, ac- in which the prior Democratic leader Clarence Thomas. Williams said: cording to participants, they deter- unnecessarily filed cloture petitions. He has been conveniently transformed into mined to change the ground rules for No, what I am talking about are real a monster about whom it is fair to say any- how they would handle judicial nomi- and repeated filibusters used by Demo- thing, to whom it is fair to do anything.