This is signed by 18 senators as follows. The majority leader. With First Experience Supreme Court confirmations in the senate, i was a young staffer for a Junior Member of the judiciary committee. Time i met a young guy named Lamar Alexander who left the senate to go down to the white house to work in congressional affairs. So ive had an opportunity for quite a long time to observe the confirmation process through various ups and downs, periods when nominees were confirmed almost overwhelmingly and periods during which they were heated, to put it mildly, contests over the nomination. What i think i can safely say about the senate over the last 40 or 50 years is that its in an assertive period. In other words, viewing the whole process as a joint thing that the president has a role to play and the senate has a role to play and at various times in the history of our country, the senates been pretty passive about it and at other times theyve been pretty aggressive about it. But the const
Are there any senators in the chamber wishing to vote or change his or her vote . If not, the ayes are 51. The nays are 46. The motion is agreed to. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President . The presiding officer the clerk will report the nomination. The clerk nomination, Supreme Court of the United States, Amy Coney Barrett of indiana to be an associate justice. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell i send a cloture motion to the desk. The presiding officer the clerk will report the cloture motion. The clerk cloture motion, we, the undersigned senators in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett of indiana to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States signed by 18 senators as follows. Mcconnell, thune, ernst, hide smith, blackburn, blunt, capito, wicker, graham, perdue, grassley, inhofe, cotton, hoeven, crapo,
Wicker, graham, perdue, grassley, inhofe, cotton, hoeven, crapo, burr, alexander, mr. Mcconnell mr. President. The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell colleagues, my First Experience with Supreme Court confirmations here in the senate, i was a young staffer for a Junior Member of the judiciary committee. That was also the same time i met a young guy named Lamar Alexander who left the senate to go down to the white house to work in congressional affairs. So ive had an opportunity for quite a long time to observe the confirmation process through various ups and downs, periods when nominees were confirmed almost overwhelmingly and periods during which they were heated, to put it mildly, contests over the nomination. What i think i can safely say about the senate over the last 40 or 50 years is that its in an assertive period. In other words, viewing the whole process as a joint thing that the president has a role to play and the senate has a role to play and at various ti
Justice ginsburg when i was growing up, the first branch was very different than it is today. And that persisted. I think back to 1993, when president clinton nominated me for the good job i now hold. I had been general counsel to the American Civil Liberties union for several years. The vote was 963 in my favor. My biggest supporter on the Judiciary Committee was not senator biden, although he was certainly in my favor, but it was orrin hatch. I think today he would not touch me with a 10 foot pole. [laughter] we are still friends, but if it came to a vote on me, i dont think he would be the supporter he was in 1993. It was similar with Stephen Breyer when he was nominated the next year. This was well into the 90s, a vote in his favor. It has not been that way for the four most recent members of the court. On both sides of the aisle. I wish there was a way i could wave a magic wand and put it back to when people were respectful of each other and congress was working for the good of th
Sometimes it seems nothing is happening on the senate floor. The action is going on elsewhere. Order in committee rooms, and senators offices and the offices of the Senate Leaders. But thats all preliminary. Sooner or later, everything has to come here. Here is where the final say, the final act takes place. Here is where the law is made. The United States senate has been legislating and carrying out its unique constitutional duties since 1789. The framers believed the senate should and could be the venue in which statesmen would lift america up to meet its unique challenges. We are still a work in progress in the United States senate. It is time for the United States senate started acting like a senate instead of kindergarten. If you think were emotional, wait until you see what happens if this bill fails. Reflecting the nations politics and made up of 100 members, two from each state, serving sixyear terms, this is how many have come to know the senate today. Democrats have been putt