‘And so I would say to our good friends on the other side, it's in your best interest for us to have a less contentious, more successful treatment of circuit judges’
Washington, D.C. – Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement Thursday on the Senate floor regarding the need for the confirmation of circuit court judges in this Congress to get back on pace:
“Mr. President, seeing the occupant of the chair and realizing he's new to the Senate and learning what the processes are, I think the Majority Leader had it right.
“One thing that is important for everyone to remember is in the Senate if you're here for a while, sooner or later the shoe is on the other foot. The position you may be in today is the position your adversary may be in very soon in the near future. So the precedents we set in the Senate are extremely important.
“The Majority Leader and I, as he just indicated this morning, talked about this issue at the beginning of the session and we agreed that the process of confirming circuit court judges had become entirely too contentious, and it was largely a waste of time to try to cast blame as to who was most at fault in that situation developing. And to the maximum extent possible, we agreed we wanted to have a clean, fresh start that would honor the traditions of the Senate.
“And a good way to look at it is looking at the last three presidents, each of them in the last two years of their tenure in office had a Senate controlled by the opposition party. So the question is: how did the opposition party in the Senate treat the president on circuit court nominees? Looking at the statistics, President Bush 41, President Clinton, and President Bush 43, we'll see where he comes out; President Bush, President Clinton, and President Reagan, it was an average of 17 circuit court judges confirmed in similar situations.
“The Majority Leader in one of our discussions on the floor back in February said, and I quote: ‘This is not our last circuit court judge, but the first of a significant number who can at least meet the standards of Congresses similarly situated as ours.’
“That was an accurate, public reflection by the Majority Leader back in February of the numerous conversations he and I have had both publicly and privately about the standard that we ought to achieve here in this Congress. I think that's a standard that can still be met.
“Three circuit judges have been confirmed this year. It's a little slower process than, frankly, I had thought, particularly since we're in the early part of the Congress where presumably it would be more easily done than later.
“The Majority Leader was entirely correct, and I commend him for referring to the gesture the President made at the beginning of this congress by not resubmitting four or five highly contentious nominees that were clear the new Democratic majority as well as the Democratic minority in the past did not want to see confirmed.
“The President took those off the table, sent up new nominees. Most of them are completely without controversy. One of them will have a hearing beginning at 10:00 o'clock this morning, and how that turns out and how that individual is treated will tell us a lot about where we're going to be able to go from here to achieve the standard that the Majority Leader just referred to that he and I would like to meet for this Congress.
“So I want to thank my friend from Nevada for his observations. I agree with him. I think they accurately reflect our mutual desire here to have this Congress do no worse than the last three congresses in the last two years of presidents of the opposite party in the Senate. It's a standard that can be met. It's a standard that should be met.
“And one day, against the best efforts of people like myself, there will be a Democratic president. And one of the things that we know around here is that lessons, precedents established and lessons learned are hard to undo. And so I would say to our good friends on the other side heed the advice of the Majority Leader. It's in your best interest for us to have a less contentious, more successful treatment of circuit judges during this congress. Mr. President, I yield the floor.”
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Washington, D.C. – Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell made the following statement Thursday on the Senate floor regarding the need for the confirmation of circuit court judges in this Congress to get back on pace:
“Mr. President, seeing the occupant of the chair and realizing he's new to the Senate and learning what the processes are, I think the Majority Leader had it right.
“One thing that is important for everyone to remember is in the Senate if you're here for a while, sooner or later the shoe is on the other foot. The position you may be in today is the position your adversary may be in very soon in the near future. So the precedents we set in the Senate are extremely important.
“The Majority Leader and I, as he just indicated this morning, talked about this issue at the beginning of the session and we agreed that the process of confirming circuit court judges had become entirely too contentious, and it was largely a waste of time to try to cast blame as to who was most at fault in that situation developing. And to the maximum extent possible, we agreed we wanted to have a clean, fresh start that would honor the traditions of the Senate.
“And a good way to look at it is looking at the last three presidents, each of them in the last two years of their tenure in office had a Senate controlled by the opposition party. So the question is: how did the opposition party in the Senate treat the president on circuit court nominees? Looking at the statistics, President Bush 41, President Clinton, and President Bush 43, we'll see where he comes out; President Bush, President Clinton, and President Reagan, it was an average of 17 circuit court judges confirmed in similar situations.
“The Majority Leader in one of our discussions on the floor back in February said, and I quote: ‘This is not our last circuit court judge, but the first of a significant number who can at least meet the standards of Congresses similarly situated as ours.’
“That was an accurate, public reflection by the Majority Leader back in February of the numerous conversations he and I have had both publicly and privately about the standard that we ought to achieve here in this Congress. I think that's a standard that can still be met.
“Three circuit judges have been confirmed this year. It's a little slower process than, frankly, I had thought, particularly since we're in the early part of the Congress where presumably it would be more easily done than later.
“The Majority Leader was entirely correct, and I commend him for referring to the gesture the President made at the beginning of this congress by not resubmitting four or five highly contentious nominees that were clear the new Democratic majority as well as the Democratic minority in the past did not want to see confirmed.
“The President took those off the table, sent up new nominees. Most of them are completely without controversy. One of them will have a hearing beginning at 10:00 o'clock this morning, and how that turns out and how that individual is treated will tell us a lot about where we're going to be able to go from here to achieve the standard that the Majority Leader just referred to that he and I would like to meet for this Congress.
“So I want to thank my friend from Nevada for his observations. I agree with him. I think they accurately reflect our mutual desire here to have this Congress do no worse than the last three congresses in the last two years of presidents of the opposite party in the Senate. It's a standard that can be met. It's a standard that should be met.
“And one day, against the best efforts of people like myself, there will be a Democratic president. And one of the things that we know around here is that lessons, precedents established and lessons learned are hard to undo. And so I would say to our good friends on the other side heed the advice of the Majority Leader. It's in your best interest for us to have a less contentious, more successful treatment of circuit judges during this congress. Mr. President, I yield the floor.”
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