Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

On the Executive Calendar, there is a queue of judges who have come out of the Judiciary Committee and are ready for floor action. By my count, along that queue, the two Pennsylvania judges my distinguished colleague refers to are Nos. 9 and 10; Senator Jack Reed's and my Rhode Island judge is No. 8. We would very much like to enter into an agreement where these judges start to be moved in regular order--as we often say we like around here--through the queue, as is the tradition in the Senate, so we can get them all cleared.

The senior Senator from Pennsylvania, Mr. Casey, as the junior Senator mentioned, came here to move a larger block. I would not object to this request if it were amended to include all 10 of those judges on the Executive Calendar, down to and including the two Pennsylvania judges to whom my distinguished colleague refers. That would be Calendar Nos. 307, 357, 358, 359, 362, 363, 364, the all-important 459 from Rhode Island, and 460 and 461.

So if the Senator from Pennsylvania would amend his unanimous consent request to accommodate that, then I would not object.

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Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, parliamentary question.

I am not sure whether the majority leader's objection was to Senator Toomey's unanimous consent request or to my attempt to modify it. If it was to the former, we are moot, and this conversation has concluded. If not, then I will object if I cannot get the regular order for the judges ahead.

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Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, with that clarification, I must regrettably object to the unanimous consent request propounded by the junior Senator from Pennsylvania. But I do hope very much that we can find a way to work toward getting these judges confirmed. These are judges who came out of the Judiciary Committee, which is a fairly contentious committee, unanimously. They are district judges. If we can't move them, then I suggest the Senate is really not working the way it ought to, and I very much hope we can get to a place where we can move them all.

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Mr. WHITEHOUSE. Mr. President, let me add to what the distinguished Senator from Pennsylvania has said by noting first that the impasse to which he refers is created by his own leadership, which refused to bring up judges that have come out of the Judiciary Committee unanimously.

There is a problem here. It is one that can be solved within the Republican caucus. We can't very much help with that, but we hope that a solution comes.

The second point is that the question here should not be viewed only as to whether the President is being treated fairly but that there are vacancies on Federal courts, and it is our responsibility to provide advice and consent. We have a duty of fairness to the constituents who have empty seats in courtrooms, and we have a duty of fairness to the candidates--the nominees--who have put their lives on hold with the expectation that they would be treated fairly by the Senate. That is our job--to treat nominees fairly and to see to our constituents' needs. It is not just a question of numbers and who is President.

I appreciate the persistence of both colleagues from Pennsylvania, and I am sure we will continue to do this until we make some headway.

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