Sotomayor Nomination

Floor Speech

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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I thank my good friend from Alabama for his observation about this nomination. He and I have been involved in a number of these confirmation proceedings over the years. In every one of them, I think there is a sense of fairness that can be reached on a bipartisan basis so that the nominee is adequately and appropriately vetted. That is what the Senator from Alabama is looking for as we go forward on the Judiciary Committee.

Frankly, I was surprised to learn that the majority decided unilaterally, basically, that the schedule would involve hearings beginning on that specific date, July 13, to which Senator Sessions referred.

During the Senate's consideration of both the Roberts and Alito nominations, we heard a lot from our Democratic colleagues about how the Senate wasn't a rubberstamp and about how it was more important to do it right than to do it fast. If that was the standard, I suggest to our colleagues, just a few years ago, why wouldn't it be a good standard today? If that was the standard when the Republicans were in the majority, why wouldn't it be a good standard when the Democrats are in the majority? We are talking about the same Supreme Court, the same lifetime appointment to which Senator Sessions referred.

The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, today, said back then that ``We need to consider this nomination as thoroughly and carefully as the American people deserve. It is going to take time.'' That was Senator Leahy then. He also said, ``It makes sense that we take time to do it right.'' I think the American people deserve nothing less. He also said that we want to do it right, we don't want to do it fast. Again, if that was the standard a few years ago when Republicans were in the majority, I don't know why it wouldn't be the standard today.

I don't know what our friends in the majority are fearful of. This nominee certainly has already been confirmed by the Senate twice. She has an extensive record, and it takes a while to go through 3,600 cases. In the case of the Chief Justice, there were only 327 cases. He had only been on the circuit court for a couple of years. She has been on one court or another for 17 years. It is a larger record. I am confident, and our ranking member, Senator Sessions, confirms that the staff is working rapidly to try to work their way through this lengthy number of cases.

But a way to look at it is the committee had to review an average of six cases a day in order to be prepared for Judge Roberts' hearings--six cases a day. The committee will now have to review an average of 76 cases--76 cases--per day in order to be ready by the time the majority has proposed for the Sotomayor hearing.

The Senate functions on comity and cooperation, and the majority leader and I are a big part of that every day, trying to respect each other's needs and trying to make the Senate function appropriately. Here the Democratic majority is proceeding, in my view, in a heavy-handed fashion, completely unnecessary, and is basically being dismissive of the minority's legitimate concerns of a fair and thorough process. There is no point in this. It serves no purpose, other than to run the risk of destroying the kind of comity and cooperation that we expect of each other in the Senate, all of which was granted in the case of Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito.

Let me be clear. Because of what our Democratic colleagues are doing and the way they are doing it, it will now be much more difficult to achieve the kind of comity and cooperation on this and other matters that we need and expect around here as we try to deal with the Nation's business.

I hope they will reconsider their decision and work with us on a bipartisan basis to allow a thorough review of this lengthy record that the nominee possesses.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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