Floor Statements

Madam President, following leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business until 10 a.m., with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each. It is my understanding the senior Senator from Iowa wishes to speak on a sad note in his life, and if he needs more than 10 minutes, I ask unanimous consent that be the case.

At 10 a.m., the Senate will resume consideration of the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The debate until 2 p.m. will be controlled in alternating hour blocks of time, with the Republicans controlling the first hour and the managers and leaders controlling the time from 2 p.m. until 3 p.m., with each permitted to speak for up to 15 minutes. At 3 p.m., the Senate will proceed to vote on confirmation of the nomination.

Upon disposition of the nomination, the Senate will turn to the emergency supplemental appropriations bill for the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Program, known as cash for clunkers. Under an agreement reached last night, seven amendments are in order prior to a vote on passage of the bill. Each amendment has up to 30 minutes of debate prior to a vote. I am hopeful that some debate time can be yielded back so that we will be able to begin voting at a reasonable time this afternoon.

Appreciation for Cooperative Spirit

Madam President, I wish to spread on the record my appreciation for the cooperation from all Senators. We worked through some difficult things yesterday to get to the point where we are today. I especially wish to express my appreciation to the Republican leader, Senator McConnell, who had to work through some difficult issues on his side, as I did on mine. We spoke and met yesterday many times. Of

course, our most helpful staff was with us every step of the way--on our side, Lula Davis, and on McConnell's side, Dave Schiappa--and we appreciate very much their expertise in this area.

Franken Maiden Speech

Finally, I wish to say briefly that our newest Senator, Al Franken, gave his maiden speech last night. It was really very good. I was so impressed with how well prepared he was. I was very impressed with how well he delivered the speech. Here is a man who is a Harvard graduate, best-selling author, and entertainer. Now he is a U.S. Senator, and the people of Minnesota are so fortunate. If things work out as I think they will, he will be presiding over the Senate when the historic vote is called today on the new Supreme Court Justice.

Historian Retirement Reception

Madam President, Senate Historian Dick Baker will be retiring. In honor of his service to the Senate and the Senate community, there will be a reception today from 3:30 to 5:00 in the LBJ Room, S. 211. He is a wonderful scholar, a great writer, and a lecturer, and we are going to miss him very much.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, on May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down a ruling that would begin to reroute America toward a more unified Union. When the Justices unanimously directed, in Brown v. Board of Education, that our children's schools must no longer be racially segregated, their decision echoed far beyond the walls of a courtroom in Washington, DC, or a classroom in Topeka, KS. The decision paved the way for countless future turns that would make our Nation more just and its people more equal.

Not 6 weeks later after that opinion, Sonia Sotomayor was born in the south Bronx. In her lifetime, this Senate has sent to the Supreme Court the only two women and the only two Americans of color to ever sit on that bench.

In the 10 weeks since President Obama made history by nominating Judge Sotomayor, many have emphasized the importance of putting the first Hispanic on the Nation's highest Court. This is truly historic for our entire Nation but especially for the young Latinos in this country who will see in Judge Sotomayor concrete evidence of the heights to which they can legitimately aspire.

But it is no less significant that in a country where women represent half of our population, Judge Sotomayor will be the third woman, only the third woman to ever serve as a Justice and will be one of only two women serving on the Court today.

In many ways, Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg have made this day possible for Judge Sotomayor. Because of the trail these women; that is, O'Connor and Ginsburg and others like them, have forged, Judge Sotomayor has been recognized throughout her career for her intelligence, talent, and accomplishments rather than being defined by her gender.

It was not easy. Justice O'Connor finished high school at age 16, and when she finished Stanford Law School, one of the finest law schools in the world, a year early--she did it in 2 years--she was third in her class, two behind Justice Rehnquist but no law firm in California would hire Justice O'Connor as an attorney because--because she was a woman. The most one firm would offer her was a position as a legal secretary.

When Justice Ginsburg arrived at Harvard Law School, she was greeted by a dean who asked why the nine women in her class--it was a class of about 700 people--why nine women in her class were occupying seats that could otherwise be taken by men.

Little did he know she would later join another group of nine legal experts whose membership was long restricted to men, the Supreme Court of the United States. Like Justice O'Connor, Justice Ginsburg did not receive a single offer from any of the 12 law firms with which she interviewed, even though she finished first in her law school class.

When she was recommended for a clerkship to the Supreme Court, at least two of the Justices refused to hire her. Why? She was a woman.

America is grateful that O'Connor and Ginsburg did not give up. We are fortunate that their voices and the real-world perspective they brought to the table were part of the debate during some of our Nation's landmark cases on gender equality.

In the Lilly Ledbetter 2007 case before the Supreme Court, Justice O'Connor's successor, Samuel Alito, wrote the majority opinion in a 5- to-4 ruling that made it virtually impossible for women and other victims of pay discrimination to fight back.

Justice Ginsburg, who herself has been a victim of pay discrimination because she was a woman, read her powerful dissent aloud from the bench. It is rarely done. But she stood and proudly voiced her dissent in that 5-to-4 opinion. She invited Congress to correct this injustice, and we did that. We changed the law. After we passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act this year, it was the first piece of legislation that President Barack Obama signed into law.

Similarly, when the Supreme Court heard the case of a 13-year-old honor student, a girl who had been strip-searched at school, Justice Ginsburg heard her colleagues minimize the humiliation the student had suffered. Justice Ginsburg noted that she was the only one on the Court who had ever been a 13-year-old girl and encouraged her colleagues to take into account the victim's perspective. The Court rightly ruled the search was unreasonable. That would not have happened but for Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Judge Sotomayor's life experiences will not dictate her decisions any more than Justices O'Connor, Ginsburg, Scalia, or Alito have let their personal pasts prescribe their own rulings. But as the newest member of the Supreme Court, she will bring a perspective not only as a woman and a Hispanic, but also a former criminal prosecutor, commercial litigator, trial judge, and appellate judge. She will share the depth and breadth of that experience with her colleagues, just as they will be able to share their own unique views on any case with her--their own views.

Justice O'Connor has said that the first African-American Justice, Thurgood Marshall, opened for his colleagues a window into a different world and was able to relate to them experiences they could not know.

Justices O'Connor and Ginsburg have done the same. Soon so will Judge Sotomayor. A more diverse Supreme Court is a better Supreme Court.

Judge Sotomayor's journey to this day has not been without obstacles. But because of the struggles fought by those who came before her, she has been able to succeed. Today the Senate will make history by confirming the first Hispanic, the third woman, and the third person of color to the Supreme Court of the United States. But equally as important, we will also make history by confirming someone as qualified as Sonia Sotomayor.

Her experiences come not only from the legal world but also the real world. Her understanding of the law is grounded not only in theory but also in practice. Her record is beyond reproach, her respect for the limits of the judiciary is resolute, and her reverence for the law is unwavering.

Sonia Sotomayor is an American of tremendous credentials. Both her academic record and her career experience are second to none. She graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University and excelled at Yale; again, Stanford, Harvard, Yale, all in the top three law schools in the country. She excelled at Yale where she was a member of the law review, the prestigious Yale Law Review.

After she is confirmed, she will be the only Justice who has seen a trial from every single angle. She has seen a trial from prosecuting civil and criminal cases, she has presided over them as a trial judge, and handled them as an appellate court judge. That is precisely the kind of experience we need on the Supreme Court.

I have had concerns for quite some time that we have far too few judges on the Court who have had trial experience. As a trial lawyer--I have tried more than 100 cases in front of juries--that experience to someone sitting on that Court is important. And she will bring that. That is so important.

We have too many Supreme Court Justices who have never conducted a trial. Some of them have never been involved in a trial. They have looked at cases from the appellate purview. I wanted someone who has looked at a case from a trial court perspective.

As the distinguished ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama, said shortly after her nomination, Judge Sotomayor's nomination: ``She's got the kind of background you would look for, almost an ideal mix of private practice, prosecution, trial judge, circuit judge.''

I could not agree more with my friend Jeff Sessions. Her experience as a trial judge will be invaluable to the Supreme Court. As a former trial lawyer, as I have indicated, a judge is more than just a political title to me.

It is someone who understands the law and sees every day how it affects people, real people.

When looking at Judge Sotomayor, I see someone who knows what happens in a courtroom, which is an arena unlike any other arena in the world. We tend to think of Supreme Court cases as major milestones that change the arc of our history and define our principles. And they do. But they often begin as ordinary, routine cases before a trial judge. It could be a traffic stop that winds up at the Supreme Court, it could be a protest in a park, it could be the placement of some monument in a park or some public place, it could be a dispute over money.

Linda Brown was a girl trying to go to public school close to her house in Topeka, Kansas, setting in motion the beginning of the end of segregation in Brown v. Board of Education. Linda Brown was that little girl who wanted to go to school close to her home. Judge Sotomayor understands people like Linda Brown. She has developed a 17-year record as a moderate judge who is squarely in the mainstream.

One of her colleagues on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for our country has credited Sotomayor with such an insightful and convincing understanding of the law that she changed his mind many times. He said: ``I would read one of the memos she had written on a case and say, I think she's got it and I don't.''

This is one of the reasons that both Republican and Democratic Presidents have nominated her to the Federal bench. It is the reason she has been confirmed twice by this body with strong bipartisan support. It is the reason that liberals and conservatives alike in the Senate will vote today to confirm her.

This woman's brilliance was on display last month. Remember, she just broke her leg. But she stood 4 days of grueling testimony with some of the finest legal minds in our country, the Democrats and Republicans of that Judiciary Committee. She did a good job in a very difficult situation. She was asked tough questions and she gave honest answers. Judge Sotomayor, who has been credited with saving baseball in one of her opinions, hit it out of the park in her testimony and her presence before the Judiciary Committee. If there ever were a home run, she hit it.

I thank Chairman Leahy, my dear friend, who has been so good to me for so many years. I think back with fondness of our time here together in the Senate. I thank Ranking Member Sessions, who has always been a gentleman to me. We have disagreed on many public issues, political issues, but never do we disagree on our friendship.

I appreciate Chairman Leahy and Senator Sessions for running a thoughtful and thorough confirmation hearing. I appreciate the generous and genuine cooperation of my colleagues who support this nomination as well as the respect shown by those who dissent.

But I commend Barack Obama, the President of the United States, for selecting such an accomplished, qualified, and experienced nominee to replace Justice Souter. It is with some sadness that I stand here today and recognize that David Souter will no longer be on the Supreme Court. I can say about no other Member of the Supreme Court what I can say about David Souter. David Souter was my friend. We did things socially. We had meals together. What a wonderful human being. I will miss him. He has always been a powerful defender of constitutional rights, whether it is the State of New Hampshire's constitutional rights or our country's constitutional rights. All Americans thank this good man for his decades of service to our Nation, and he has more to give. I am confident, though, that Judge Sotomayor will soon build upon her impressive record which is already very impressive when she is across the street at the Supreme Court.

I am certain she will leave the writing of the law to those of us on this side of the street. That is our job, and she will impartially and faithfully fulfill her constitutional duty to apply only the laws that we pass here.

I am also convinced that, when she soon takes the same oath every Justice before her has taken, she will ``administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the rich and to the poor.''

Sonia Sotomayor has risen remarkably from the trials of a modest upbringing in the South Bronx of New York to presiding over major trials on the Federal bench. All Americans, men and women of every color and background, can be confident that she will ensure equal justice under the law in our Nation's very highest Court.

That is why I am so proud to cast my vote in a few minutes for the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

I ask for the yeas and nays.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. President, we have one more vote. I appreciate everyone's cooperation. We have accomplished a great deal this whole work period. This week has really been a productive one. I appreciate everyone's help. The Republican leader and I have worked hard to get it to this point on Thursday night at 8 o'clock. That is hard to comprehend.

We will come back after the break and have a vote Tuesday evening. We will keep people posted as to what is going to happen. We are going to move to appropriations bills as quickly as we can, and we have other things to do throughout the work period. I hope everybody has a great work period at home.

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, this resolution concerns a request for testimony and representation in a criminal action in Superior Court in Alameda County, CA. In this action, the defendant is charged by the State of California with resisting arrest arising out of an attempt by the police to serve him with a warrant requiring his court appearance on the charge that, in September 2006, he battered an employee in the reception area of the San Francisco office of Senator Barbara Boxer.

The prosecution has sought testimony from Senator Boxer's employee concerning the events that transpired in the reception area of her San Francisco office. This resolution would authorize her employee to testify in this action, with representation by the Senate Legal Counsel of him and any other employee of Senator Boxer's office from whom testimony may be necessary.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, there will be a period of morning business until 10 a.m., with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each.

Following that morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Debate will be controlled at alternating times, with the majority controlling the first hour, starting at 11 o'clock, and the time between 2 and 3 p.m. will be equally divided and controlled, with the majority controlling the first 30 minutes and the Republicans controlling the final 30 minutes.

Because of the special caucus the Democrats are having, we will be in recess from 3 until 5 p.m. When the Senate reconvenes, the Senate will resume the 1-hour alternating blocks of time, with the Republicans controlling the first hour.

In addition to the Supreme Court nomination that we need to deal with, there are two major items we need to complete before we leave for the August recess. First, we have to have some way of moving forward on the travel promotion and on the cash for clunkers. If we don't work something out on cash for clunkers, I will file a cloture motion this evening, which means we will have to have a cloture vote on Friday. If people want to use the 30 hours, it goes over until Saturday. I don't think that is the case. I have had a number of very good conversations with the Republican leader, and we all acknowledge that a significant majority want to move forward with this legislation that has resulted in the sales, in a period of days, of almost 300,000 vehicles. For us, the taxpayers, it creates jobs, helps our manufacturing base and helps the taxpayers, in effect, who loaned money to these two manufacturers. This will help them repay that money. It has been stimulative, and we recognize that.

That having been said, some people still don't like the program. So we have to figure a way to move through that. It is my understanding that the Democrats have one amendment. I have explained it to the Republicans. The Republicans have a long list of

amendments. They are going to have to whittle that down to a reasonable number so we can deal with them soon. I hope we can work something out so that we can meet our responsibilities.

We also have a number of nominations that have been held up as a result of the Supreme Court nomination. We hope all of that can be taken care of as soon as she is confirmed.

Mr. President, I am told that S. 1572 is due for a second reading and is now at the desk.

Mr. President, I object to further proceedings with respect to this legislation.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, for the benefit of Members, we will have no more votes tonight. I just completed a meeting with Senator McConnell, and we are trying to work through when we are going to have a final vote on the Supreme Court nomination, what we are going to do on travel promotion, and what we are going to do for cash for clunkers. We are trying to work through that. We hope we will have something worked out tonight, but knowing how things work around here, we probably will not be able to get information to Members until tomorrow. But there will be no more votes tonight.

I have indicated the number of things we have to complete before we leave here, and that is all dependent on the amount of cooperation we get from the minority whether we finish tomorrow, Friday, or Saturday, or Sunday. There is no reason we can't put in a modestly long day tomorrow and complete everything, but we will have to see. We will do our best to try to get notice to Members as quickly as we can.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to proceed to a period of morning business with Senators allowed to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

Mr. President, first of all, let me say this. This has taken a lot of time today. Senator McConnell and I have had many meetings and many discussions. This whole consent agreement has been very difficult for everyone, but I think it accomplishes what we need to accomplish.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that tomorrow, Thursday, August

6, at 10 a.m., the Senate proceed to executive session to resume consideration of Executive Calendar No. 309, the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and that the time until 2 p.m. be divided equally in alternating 1-hour blocks with the Republicans controlling the first hour; that at 2 p.m. the time be divided 15 minutes each as follows: Senator Sessions, Senator Leahy, Senator McConnell and Senator Reid, in that order; that at 3 p.m., without further intervening action or debate, the Senate proceed to vote on confirmation of the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor; that upon confirmation, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, no further motions be in order, the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the Senate then resume legislative session.

Mr. President, I further ask unanimous consent that upon disposition of the nomination of Justice Sotomayor and the Senate resuming legislative session, the Senate then proceed to consideration of Calendar No. 146, H.R. 3435; that the bill be considered under the following limitations; that each amendment be debated for a period of 30 minutes, equally divided and controlled in the usual form; that if there is a sequence of votes, then prior to each vote there be 2 minutes of debate, equally divided and controlled in the usual form; that after the first vote in a sequence, the remaining votes be limited to 10 minutes each: Harkin amendment regarding income limits, the Kyl amendment regarding status report substitute, the Gregg amendment regarding the budget resolution, the Vitter amendment regarding termination of TARP, the Coburn amendment regarding donations, the Thune amendment regarding government ownership plan, and the Isakson amendment regarding home purchases; that once the agreement is entered, the amendments be filed at the desk and printed in the Record; further, that upon disposition of the listed amendments, the bill be read a third time, the Senate proceed to vote on passage of the bill; provided further that on Tuesday, September 8, at 5:30 p.m., the Senate proceed to the motion to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked on the Dorgan amendment No. 1347 to S. 1025, the Travel Promotion Act, and that the motion to proceed be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be agreed to; and the Senate then vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the Dorgan amendment; that if cloture is invoked on the amendment, then postcloture time be considered to have begun running at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, September 8.

Mr. President, on the final paragraph of my consent agreement, where I said that the Senate proceed to the motion to reconsider the vote by which cloture was not invoked on the Dorgan amendment No. 1347 to S. 1025, it should be S. 1023.

And Mr. President, the record should be very clear that the vote we take Monday night on the Travel Promotion Act is only on cloture. The 30 hours would still run and we would have to have final passage on the bill whenever the 30 hours runs out or whenever there is an agreement that we can vote on it.

So Mr. President, I further ask unanimous consent that after the 30 hours is up, at the end of postcloture time, the amendment be agreed to, and the bill be read a third time and the Senate vote on passage of the legislation.

Mr. President, following leader remarks, we will resume consideration of the Agriculture appropriations bill, with the time until 10:30 equally divided and controlled between the two managers or their designees. At 10:30, the Senate will proceed to a series of two rollcall votes in relation to the pending McCain amendments. Following the votes, the Senate will recess until 2:15 p.m. to allow for the weekly caucus luncheons. The time will be expanded a little bit today because the Democrats are going to the White House for the caucus today, rather than here in the Mansfield Room. As a reminder to all Senators, the filing deadline for second-degree amendments is 10:15 this morning. We have every belief we can complete the Agriculture appropriations bill today. I hope so because as soon as we finish that we are going to move to the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Mr. President, H.R. 3435 is at the desk. It is my understanding it is due for a second reading.

I ask unanimous consent that any further proceedings in this matter not proceed. I object.

Mr. President, a long 10 weeks ago, President Obama made history when he nominated the Nation's first Hispanic to be a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, and only the third woman. This week, the Senate will make history when we confirm her.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor is an American of tremendous qualifications. Both her academic record and her career experience are second to none. She graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University and went on to do as well at Yale, where she was a member of the Law Review. She has served as a prosecuting attorney, a lawyer in private practice; she was on the trial bench and an appellate judge. After she is confirmed, she will be the only Justice in the current Supreme Court with experience as a trial judge--experience that I believe will be valuable to her colleagues.

One of the objections people have had about the makeup of the Court is that people come with basically no experience in the courtroom other than the appellate judges who sit in back rooms and listen to arguments once in a while and not in a courtroom listening to cases being presented, sustaining and overruling objections, and listening to arguments to the jury. They simply have not had that experience. She has. She has developed a 17-year record as a moderate, mainstream judge.

When the judge testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee for 4 grueling days, she respectfully and thoroughly answered questions from both sides of the aisle--Democrats and Republicans. This week, the Senate will debate her nomination. It will be a fair debate. It will be a full debate.

I appreciate the statements from my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who have said they will vote to confirm her to the Supreme Court.

Many Senators have very thoughtfully said they regret how politicized the process of confirming judges has become in recent years. An unsung hero in the battle for the judiciary is Lamar Alexander, the Senator from Tennessee. Senator Alexander has been Governor of the State of Tennessee. He was in the Cabinet as Secretary of Education. During the very difficult nuclear option, when there was a knockdown, drag-out fight that I felt would have ruined the basic makeup of the Senate and what the Senate stood for, it was he who quietly and in the background came up with the idea of the Gang of 14. Basically, he said to me and to others: Why don't we have an equal number of Democrats and Republicans sit down and try to work this out. He took none of the limelight. He stepped back, and the process he suggested went forward.

He has decided to vote for Sonia Sotomayor. Most of his colleagues are not going to do that. I am sure if you ask Lamar Alexander why he decided to do that, of course, the qualifications are fine, but I think one reason he wants to do it is he believes in having temperate suggestions on both sides of the aisle to make a better Senate.

So I am very fond of Lamar Alexander. I appreciate his ability to bring sides together, and I appreciate his standing up in this instance for this judge, because the process of confirming judges has become in recent years very politicized. Whose fault is it? It is probably the fault of both sides. It is something that just got out of hand. Hopefully, we can bring it back to where it has been in the past.

I have tried during the time I have been the majority leader to allow full and firm debate. There have been limited instances out of necessity where we haven't had full opportunities to amend pieces of legislation. That is the way it used to be when I came here, and that is the way I hope it is going to be in the future.

In light of the battle we have had in the past over the so-called nuclear option, I appreciate the sentiments of a number of Senators. Lindsey Graham is an example. Lindsey Graham has had editorials all over the country written on his behalf. Columns have been written in major newspapers in Nevada complimenting the Senator from South Carolina for the statements he made regarding this judicial problem we have now.

I am disappointed that not more of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are likely to vote for this outstanding nominee, particularly in light of her record and qualifications, but maybe in the future things will get better. I am, however, grateful for the respect my colleagues have shown her throughout this process, even those who have said they are not going to vote for her.

I look forward to voting to confirm Judge Sotomayor as soon as we can so that she can continue her commendable service to our country.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator Brown be recognized for a period of approximately 8 minutes, followed by Senator Sanders, to speak until 11:15 a.m., until our recess occurs.