April 3, 2019 - Issue: Vol. 165, No. 58 — Daily Edition116th Congress (2019 - 2020) - 1st Session

[Page S2225]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                           EXECUTIVE CALENDAR

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the nomination.
  The legislative clerk read the nomination of Roy Kalman Altman, of 
Florida, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District 
of Florida.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I understand the majority is 
considering another change to how judicial nominees are considered.
  My understanding is the majority leader may move to break the rules 
of the Senate and cut the time that Senators can debate nominees after 
cloture is invoked from 30 hours to 2 hours.
  Just yesterday, the Senate rejected this change. The Lankford 
resolution was voted on and did not receive 60 votes, let alone the 67 
votes required to change the rules.
  The resolution would also have changed postcloture debate time on 
circuit court and Supreme Court nominees from 30 hours total to 30 
hours divided between the majority and minority leaders or their 
designees. This means debate on a Supreme Court nomination could be 
limited to only 15 total hours of debate.
  Despite bipartisan opposition to the Lankford resolution, the 
majority is now considering limiting debate time by breaking 
longstanding rules of the Senate.
  Changing the rules is not only unnecessary, but also is dangerous, 
especially when we are talking about lifetime appointments. Further, 
given this administration's failure to properly vet its own nominees, 
the Senate should not restrict critical vetting and due diligence.
  There is simply no need to limit debate on President Trump's judicial 
nominees. In fact, President Trump's judicial nominees have been 
confirmed at a record pace.
  Through his first 2 years in office, President Trump had more circuit 
court nominees confirmed than any other President had at the same point 
in their tenure--30 total. That is on top of two Supreme Court Justices 
and 53 district court judges.
  Further, the current administration's circuit court nominees have 
been confirmed nearly twice as fast as President Obama's, 256 days for 
President Obama's nominees versus 139 days for President Trump's 
nominees.
  The rules change is also unnecessary because Senate Democrats are in 
no way obstructing confirmations. Senate Democrats have not required 
cloture votes on more than half of President Trump's district court 
nominees.
  On average, the Senate has used only 3 hours of floor time for debate 
on President Trump's district court nominees.
  In addition, a higher percentage of President Trump's district court 
nominees have been confirmed by voice vote as compared to President 
Obama's district court nominees, 49 percent versus 35 percent. In other 
words, Senate Democrats have not required the majority to hold rollcall 
votes on nearly half of President Trump's nominees to the Federal 
district courts.
  Finally, Democrats have worked with the Trump administration to 
identify qualified judicial nominees.
  For example, Delaware's two Democratic Senators, Senators Carper and 
Coons, worked with the White House to identify two qualified nominees 
to be judges on the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.
  Senators Durbin and Duckworth of Illinois worked with this 
administration to identify two highly qualified nominees to be judges 
on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Both of those 
nominees were confirmed unanimously.
  In addition, we are right now in postcloture time on the nomination 
of Roy Altman to the Southern District of Florida. Several Democrats 
voted for Mr. Altman in committee, and Democrats have not demanded a 
full 30 hours of debate time on Mr. Altman's nomination.
  Despite all of this, Republicans are nevertheless breaking the rules 
and pushing the Senate closer to a body that is governed simply by the 
whim of the majority.
  All of this leads to an unmistakable conclusion--shortening debate 
time is unnecessary. It is a response to a non-existent problem, and it 
is simply a power grab meant to stack the courts at an even faster 
rate.
  It is also important to stress why it is so dangerous to allow the 
Trump administration to stack the courts in this way, without adequate 
debate time.
  We have seen this administration fill lifetime positions with young, 
inexperienced nominees who are often outside the legal mainstream. We 
have seen them try to do this without properly vetting those same 
nominees, as in the case of Brett Talley, who failed to disclose to the 
Judiciary Committee nearly 15,000 online comments, including one in 
which he defended the founder of the KKK.
  The Senate needs sufficient time to scrutinize the records of these 
nominees--nominees like Matthew Kacsmaryk and Patrick Wyrick, who have 
led efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act; nominees like Brian 
Buescher, who has argued that States should go after women's 
reproductive rights ``bit by bit''; and nominees like Wendy Vitter, who 
refused to acknowledge that Brown v. Board of Education was correctly 
decided and who falsely claimed there is a connection between the use 
of contraceptive pills and the incidence of cancer.
  Two hours is simply not enough time to scrutinize these nominees' 
records, especially when so many of this administration's judicial 
nominees fail to disclose materials to the Judiciary Committee.
  In conclusion, all Senators, and not just those on the Judiciary 
Committee, need adequate time to review the records of these judicial 
nominees, who, if confirmed, will serve for life.
  All Senators need adequate time to make an informed decision about 
whether these nominees are qualified to decide the fate of thousands of 
people's lives. After all, the American people deserve to know that, if 
they find themselves in a Federal court, they will have an impartial, 
qualified, mainstream jurist who has earned the right to sit on the 
bench.
  This decision to break the rules and reduce debate time on judicial 
nominees not only harms the institution of the Senate, but also harms 
the Federal judiciary.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.