Senate Filibuster

SENATE FILIBUSTER -- (House of Representatives - May 04, 2005)

(Ms. FOXX asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)

Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise to denounce the grave injustice occurring a few hundred yards from here in the United States Senate. As any student of American Government knows, it is the job of the President to nominate fellow Americans to serve as Federal judges, and it is the job of the Senate to either approve or reject those nominations. It is a simple system that guarantees proper checks and balances in the manner our forefathers envisioned.

Over the past 2 years, though, Senate Democrats have exploited parliamentary loopholes to prevent the Senate from voting up or down on many of President Bush's highly qualified nominees. They are hiding behind the Senate filibuster to block judicial nominees who have the support of the majority of the Senate, something that has never been done in American history.

Democrats in the Senate are not asking for time to debate these nominees. They are not going to the American people and explaining why they oppose them. They are not even using their talents of persuasion to urge their Republican colleagues to vote "no." No, they are just refusing to vote. And that is just wrong.

I stand for this simple proposition, that every judicial nominee of the President deserves a fair yes-or-no vote. If Democrats do not like the President's nominees, they can vote "no," but to avoid voting altogether is a dangerous disservice.

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