On the subject is important as important as the Supreme Court nomination, bipartisanship should be essential. That is what 60 votes does. Hat is nothing new it was a varmint by each of president obamas nominations. In my mind, 60 votes is the appropriate way to go. Whether there is a democratic president or republican president. Democratic Republican Senate senate. Lican because a 60 vote threshold is essential, those who say at the process ross is a that there are only two possible willts that the Senate Confirm this nominee or the republicans will use the Nuclear Option to confirm their choice are dead wrong. That is a false choice. If this nominee cannot meet the stain standards same standards that the republicans insisted upon for obamas republican Supreme Court nominees, the problem lies not with this senate, but with the nominee. It should not be to change the rules of the senate, but to change the nominee to someone who can earn 60 votes. 60 votes produces a mainstream candidate, and the need for a mainstream consensus candidate is greater now than ever before, because we are in New Territory to read first, because the court under chief Justice Roberts has shown increasing drift. They have become more and more probusiness, pro special interest court, citing more with corporations and employers and special interests overworking oververage americans working and average americans. Where everincreasing corporate aided and abetted by the Citizens United decision has skewed the playing field, away from the american citizen. A mainstream nominee would help reverse that trend, not exacerbated. And second, an important reason that we are in a new world here and why making a 60 vote margin is even more important. Administrations desk this administration seems to have less respect for the rule of law than any in recent memory , and is challenging the ostrich that constitution in unprecedented fashion. There is a special burden on this nominee to be an independent jurist. Lets go over each point. First, we have a special to judge whether or not this nominee will further tip the scales on the court in favor of big business and powerful special interests instead of the average american. For over two decades, this court has shifted dangerously in the direction of big business and the powerful special interests. According to a study by the minnesota law review, the Roberts Court has been the most business friendly Supreme Court since world war ii. It is the most Corporate Court in over 70 years. It was procorporate when it frequently favored forced arbitration as a way to settle disputes. Procorporate when it repeatedly refused to hear legitimate cases where individuals have been harmed by ,aulty rodda, products discriminatory practices, or fraud. And it was procorporate when it came down with one of the worst decisions in the history of the court, Citizens United, by equating money withdecisions ine speech. The Citizens United decision cut right at the heart of the most sacred power of our democracy, the franchise of our citizens. Byhas poisoned our politics allowing dark money to pour into our system entirely undisclosed. No precedent, the Roberts Court came up with the beer he that money theory that equals speech, and you can put times ton tv 7000 drown out all others. It dilutes the power of their votes. The Citizens United decision was the worst decision in 100 years, and is the embodiment of this new era of the corporate special interest court. At a time when massive inequality plagues our economy, dark money floods our politics, and faith in institutions is low, this rightward shift in the court is an existential threat to our democracy. Now more than ever, we require a justice who will move the court back in the direction of the people. Not only because that is what the law requires, but that is what our system of government requires. And second, madam president , we must insist on a strong, mainstream, consensus candidate because this court will be tried in ways that few courts have been tested since the earliest days of the republic, when constitutional questions abounded. This administration seems to for the role of all. Just two weeks in, the new administration has violated our or values, challenged the separation of powers, stretch the boundaries statutes, and stretched the boundaries of our constitution in unprecedented fashion. He fired his accurate acting attorney general for maintaining her fidelity to the wall, rather than letting obedience to the rather than law, letting pledging obedience to the president. Yates sally eighth knowledge contradicted administration, she was fired. Were 13 days into this new administration. How many more of these . Ismissals will take place this is not close to normal. Many of us have lived through the first few weeks of several administrations of both armies. This is not even close to normal. More than ever, we need a Supreme Court justice who is independent, whose shoes s ideology, eschew and who can set up to president who has already shown a willingness to bend the constitution. The Supreme Court is sitting intoa president who many instances has two little interest in the sanctity of the nation. Now more than other, we require fulfill ouro will role in democracy and the check and balance on the other branches of government. Because this president has aarted out in such an on fundamentally and democratic way, we have to examine this nominee closely. As for the nominee himself, i have serious concerns about how he measures out on these two great issues i just described. Such hasdge or consistently favored corporate interests over the rights of working people. He repeatedly sided with Insurance Companies who wanted to deny benefits to employees. Bloomberg found he sided with employers the great majority of the time. And one of the few cases he sided with an employee, it was a republican woman who alleged she was fired for being a conservative. He wrote in an article in 2005 that classaction lawsuits were a tool for oysters lawyers to get a fast pass to classaction riches. These bring to on behalf of people who have no power without the classaction. And he seems to be willing to restrict the most common sense contribution that constitution limits. Is chosen someone who does not routinely signed with the average american. Instead, he has selected a nominee for the Supreme Court resides with ceos over citizens. Second, judge for such judge gorsuch lacks the kind of independence of the court desperately needs right now. He has shown a tendency to let ideology to influence his decision. The irony is this. Fore who blame liberals legislating through the courts are usually activist judges themselves. In recent years, conservative judges have proven themselves to be the true activist. And detecting to roll back the established law of the land, roe v wade. Such judge gorsuch has shown disdain for these of the courtroom to vindicate fundamental right. It is particularly inappropriate for someone who seeks a seat on the highest court of the land. Because of this, women are duly worried about the preservation of their rights and equality, as is the lgbt community. Within an administration that is already challenging fundamental american right do so again, but for those be in place rights and be vindicated. As senators, we are endowed with an awesome power, to judge whether this man, judge gorsuch, has a right to a title that is higher than all others in our judicial shoes system. The title of justice. We must be absolutely certain that this person is a strong, mainstream candidate, who has respectful rule of law and basic constitutional action. Approach to the t,oes judge gorsuch throughout his career, has continually cited with corporations over working people. And most troubling, yielded to an ideological reports to jurisprudence that makes the skeptical that he can be a strong and independent justice on the court. Given that record, i have very serious doubt that Zsa Zsa Gabor such as up to the job. Madam president , the Supreme Court now rest in delicate balance. It to be bullied or influenced by executive overreach. The senate has the responsibility to weigh this nominee with the highest level , and to have a robust and conference debate on ability to be a Supreme Court justice. I feel the floor. Thank you. Yield the floor, thank you madam president. Democratic leader . Ask unanimous without objection. Madam president . Senator from iowa . Last evening, i had the pleasure of being at the white house when President Trump be anuced his nominee to associate justice of the supreme who court, judge gorsuch happens to be serving on the 10th Circuit Court of appeals. Anybody thatprise shouldnt surprise anybody that President Trump delivers shouldnt surprise anybody that President Trump delivered a list of 21 names, and judge gorsuch was one of those. Servicede of service on the 10th circuit has earned a reputation as a mainstream judge. It has already been widely reported that he was unanimously by a voice vote on the 10th circuit in 2006. There are still 31 senators in this body who voted for the judge at that particular time. 11 of them are democrats, and one of them is senator schumer. Judge gorsuch was, of course, supported by both of his home state senators for the tenth circuit. One happened to be a republican, one a democrat. He has been recognized as a great jurist by members from both parties. For instance, when he was sworn in to the tenth circuit, senator salazar, then democrat senator from colorado, remarked that the judge quote has a sense of has a sense of fairness and impartiality that is a keystone of being a judge end of quote. The judge happens to be fourth generation coloradan. He is eminently qualified to be the next associate justice of the Supreme Court. His decades of experience span many facets of our legal system. A graduate of Columbia University and harvard law school, the judge was also a prestigious marshall scholar at oxford. He served as Principal Deputy general at the department of justice. Judge gorsuch also knows the Supreme Court well, having clerked for Supreme Court justices byron white and now and also Anthony Kennedy whos still on that court. He currently serves with distinction on the tenth circuit where he has established himself , as mainstream judge with a reputation as a fair and brilliant jurist. As a mainstream jurist, judge gorsuch enjoys broad respect across the ideological spectrum. All the confirmation hearings for his current at the current confirmation hearings for his current judgeship on the tenth circuit, he was introduced by a republican senator allard from colorado, a democrat senator salazar from colorado. Senator salazar, of course, isnt exactly a conservative firebrand, having most recently served as head of the Transition Team of secretary clinton. At his hearing in 2006, william hughs, jr. , a democratic candidate for the house of representatives, authored a strong letter of recommendation for judge gorsuch stating quote i have never found nor thought neils views or opinions to be tainted or swayed by any partisan leanings. Quite to the contrary. His approach to all things professional and personal has always been moderate and practical end of quote of mr. Hughs letter. There are plenty other examples of strong bipartisan support for judge gorsuch. Even observers in the press recognize his reputation for fairness. Just last week the denver post endorsed the judge saying he quote has applied the law fairly and consistently end of quote. Judge john kaine, a colleague on the District Court of colorado appointed by president carter says that judge gorsuch quote listens well and decides justly. His dissents are instructive rather than vitriolic. In sum, i think hes an excellent judicial craftsman, end of quote. After his nomination was announced last evening, the highest praise so far came from president obamas former solicitor general neil cotell who described him this way quote judge gorsuch is one of the most thoughtful and brilliant judges to have served our nation over the last century. As a judge, he has always put aside his personal views to serve the rule of law. To boot, as those of us who have worked with him can attest, he is a wonderful, decent, and humane person. I strongly support his nomination for the Supreme Court court. End of quote of president obamas former solicitor general general. To me following the law wherever that law and case may lead is perhaps the most important attribute for a Supreme Court justice to possess. That principle guided Justice Scalias Decision Making and its also how judge gorsuch has said judges should approach the law. As the judge once wrote quoting Justice Scalia quote if youre going to be a good and faithful judge, you have to resign yourself to the facts that youre not always going to like the conclusion you reach. If you like them all the time, youre probably doing something wrong. End of quote. That gets back to something very basic. A judge is supposed to leave their personal views out of it. A judge is supposed to be dispassionate. A judge looks at the law on one hand and the facts of the case on the other and make your Decision Just based on those two things. So what i have learned so what i have learned so far, the judges judicial record reflects this philosophy of being dispassionate following the constitution and the laws passed by congress. I think he said last night Something Like a judge is supposed to judge and legislators are supposed to legislate and a judge should not be legislating. Judge gorsuch doesnt legislate from the bench, nor does he impose his own beliefs on others. I want to quote from a speech at case western that the judge said judges should strive quote to apply the law as it is focusing backwards, not forward, and looking to the text, to the structure, and to history to decide what a reasonable reader at the time of the events in question would have understood the law to be, not to decide cases based on their own moral convictions or the policy consequences they believe might Serve Society best. End of quote. I believe it is this fundamental sense of fairness, sense of duty in upholding the constitution and the laws passed by congress that has led the judge to be a highly regarded jurist. After the tragic passing of Justice Scalia, we made it clear that the senate would wait for the American People to have a say in the future of the court. I said even before the election that no matter who won the president ial election, we would move forward with the new president s nominee. I maintained this position even on the eve of the election, and i maintain that position even everyone seemed to believe that our next president would be secretary clinton. I have been consistent. Unfortunately, some of my democrat colleagues, the same ones who hold the rally, say they intend to everything they can to stop this eminently qualified judge. That is very, very unfortunate. I hope and trust that approach will not be uniform on their side. I look forward to moving forward with the hearing, when we will learn a great deal more about judge gorsuch, and i look forward to an up or down vote on his nomination. I thank the senate, yield the floor, and suggest the absence of a forum. Cspan, where history on old daily. Unfolds daily. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2017] programsre a few cspan viewers saw last week. Office ofies of the which i am about to enter. The duties of the opposite which im about to enter. So help you god. So help me god. There is senator ron wyden. You bought over 500,000 shares of discount that wasnt much is 40 cheaper was as much as 40 cheaper as the price on the us trillions exchange, you worse today worse australian stock exchange, and you were sitting does this show bad judgment . Meeting withcoming President Trump, she will be prepared to offer up for sacrifice the opportunity of American Company to come in and take over parts of our public services. Pres. Trump the secretary of homeland purity working with security working with myself will begin immediate construction of a border wall. [applause] House Democratic leader nancy pelosi reacting to claims of voter fraud. I frankly feel very sad about the president making his claim. I feel sorry for him. I pray for him, but then i pray for the United States of america. Congresswoman liz cheney addressing enhanced interrogation. Thatthink it is something clearly has health must in the past to prevent attack helped us in the past to prevent attacks and save lives. Committees voted on a number of President Trumps cabinet nominees. Well take a look at the vote on the nomination for Steve Mnuchin tomtreasury secretary, and price for health and Human Services secretary. This is the level of my new show we are dealing with here. Were dealing with here. They are using this is justification to even vote on these nominations. We are in mi
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