Nomintation of Priscilla Richman Owen to be United States Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit
NOMINATION OF PRISCILLA RICHMAN OWEN TO BE UNITED STATES CIRCUIT JUDGE FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT--Continued -- (Senate - May 23, 2005)
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I thank the Chair. I thank all my colleagues. This will go down, hopefully, as a fine night in the Senate, in the U.S. Government. Armageddon has been avoided, and thank God for that. We in the Senate stepped right up to the precipice, but we did not fall in. This Republic works in amazing ways. And just as we were about to fall into an abyss of partisanship, of a destruction of the checks and balances that are the hallmark of this institution and this government, 12 Senators, many Democrats from red States, some Republicans from blue States, came together and created an agreement that I think serves this body well.
Does it have everything that we would have wanted on this side? No. But it takes the nuclear option off the table. It says that filibusters may continue to be used, albeit in a restrained way--although many would argue 10 out of 218 was restrained in itself. It also asks the President to consult and that, to me, would be a key lesson of this agreement. The reason that we came so close to this Armageddon is because, in my judgment, we didn't have the typical consultation that previous Presidents--Clinton, Bush, Reagan--had with the Senate before nominating judges.
The agreement widely states that it is the hope of the Senate--at least of the 12 signatories, but I am sure the other 88 Senators would join--that the President will begin to consult. That will not mean that judges will be so far from his political philosophy. He is the President and he gets to choose them. But it will mean that the kinds of partisan division that we have seen here is gone.
Mr. President, what I most feared about the nuclear option was the destruction of the checks and balances that are the hallmark of this institution. Those checks and balances have been preserved tonight. But make no mistake about it, if we don't all make efforts, we could get right back to this point soon enough. It could be on the issue of judges or on the issue of something else. The poison of too much partisanship is still here, and it is hoped that this agreement will set a model where everyone can pull back, it is hoped that there will be consultation on judges, and it is hoped that this agreement will set the stage for a better Senate, a better Congress, and a better Republic in the future.
Mr. President, this could become a historic night if the agreement that has been created keeps. We must preserve the checks and balances in the Senate. We must preserve the rights of the minority in the Senate. We must understand that a vote of 51 percent on the most major of decisions is not the right vote that is always called for. That has been the tradition in the Senate.
The reason we say that our rules take two-thirds to change is exactly to make it hard to change the rules and force the proposed changer to seek a bipartisan coalition. That bipartisanship is what differentiates us from the other body. Those checks and balances differentiate us from most other governments. We must fight to keep them and tonight we have made a giant step in that direction.
I yield the floor.
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