[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 136 (Friday, October 2, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11310-S11311]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NOMINATION OF SONIA SOTOMAYOR, OF NEW YORK, TO BE A UNITED STATES 
                  CIRCUIT JUDGE FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT

  The legislative clerk read the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor, of New 
York, to be a United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there be 20 
minutes for debate equally divided in the usual form. I further ask 
consent that following the debate the Senate proceed immediately to a 
vote on the confirmation of the nomination. I finally ask consent that 
following that vote the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, 
the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action, and the 
Senate then return to legislative session.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. McCAIN. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays on the 
nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The yeas and nays were ordered.
  Mr. LEAHY addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont is recognized.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee is 
delayed in a committee of conference, but I understand that he has no 
objection to this side beginning on this nomination. I also notify 
colleagues that if we reach a point where neither side has further 
members wishing to speak on the nomination, it is going to be the 
intention of the managers to yield back whatever time we have. I 
mention that so that people understand that it is possible that this 
rollcall may occur sooner than 20 minutes from now.
  Mr. President, at long last, this day has finally arrived. Senate 
confirmation of Judge Sonia Sotomayor has been stalled for 7 long 
months without any explanation or justification. I have spoken on 
behalf of this outstanding nominee more than a dozen times. In fact, 
the most recent time was Monday of this week. I hope that now those who 
have had the secret hold on this nomination will come forth and claim 
``credit'' for preventing this qualified nominee from helping end the 
emergency that has confronted the Second Circuit since March. 
Throughout all the time that there have been secret holds that have 
kept her nomination from going forward, she has been denied her 
rightful seniority on the court as others have gone forward. It has not 
been the Senate's finest hour.
  I recall the glowing statement of support from Senator Moynihan to 
the Judiciary Committee at her hearing back in September 1997, a year 
ago. I appreciate, as well, the strong statement Senator Moynihan made 
to the Senate on behalf of this outstanding nominee this summer when 
her nomination was being stalled. I very much appreciate the efforts he 
has made on behalf of this outstanding nominee. He has been persistent 
in his support and in seeking to bring this nomination to the floor 
without delay. As members of the minority party, that has been a very, 
very difficult task.
  Along with a number of Senators, I wrote to the majority leader on 
April 9, 1998, urging ``prompt and favorable action on the nomination 
of Judge Sonia Sotomayor.'' We noted then the judicial emergency that 
had to be declared by Chief Judge Winter of the Second Circuit. Since 
March 23, he has had to cancel hearings and proceed with three-judge 
appellate panels that contain only one Second Circuit judge. That 
crisis is continuing.

  What is happening is when they have these three-judge panels, only 
one of the judges is from the Second Circuit. They have to bring judges 
from elsewhere, or retired judges to hear cases. Judge Sonia 
Sotomayor's nomination has taken over 15 months in spite of

[[Page S11311]]

the emergency that plagues the Second Circuit.

  We have seen the strong support for this nominee from the 
Congressional Hispanic Caucus and from the Puerto Rican Bar 
Association, the Hispanic National Bar Association, and many other bar 
associations around the country. We have received literally thousands 
of letters of support for this nominee.
  Late this summer, a column in the Wall Street Journal noted that 
Judge Sotomayor was being held up on the Republican side of the aisle 
because of speculation that she might one day be considered by 
President Clinton for nomination to the United States Supreme Court. 
This was confirmed by a report in the New York Times on June 14.
  As I said earlier, this has not been the Senate's finest hour.
  How disturbing and how shameful: trying to disqualify an outstanding 
Hispanic woman judge by an anonymous hold. Here is a highly-qualified 
Hispanic woman judge who should have been confirmed to help end the 
crisis in the Second Circuit more than seven months ago.
  How petty, how mean, how wrong to cost this judge the seniority she 
should have had on the Second Circuit by someone anonymously holding 
her up on the other side of the aisle.
  I note very clearly for the Record that every time the question of 
her nomination came forth, it has been made clear that every single 
Democrat said they were prepared to go forward with her nomination. 
Every single Democrat said they would vote for her.
  When she is confirmed as I fully expect she will be, she will be only 
the second woman and second judge of Puerto Rican descent to serve on 
the Second Circuit. Judge Sotomayor is a source of pride to Puerto 
Rican and other Hispanic supporters and to women everywhere.
  Judge Sotomayor is a highly qualified nominee who was confirmed to 
the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York 
in 1992 after being nominated by President Bush. She rose from a 
housing project in the Bronx to attend Princeton University and Yale 
Law School. She worked for over four years in the New York District 
Attorney's Office as an Assistant District Attorney and was in private 
practice with Pavia & Harcourt in New York.
  She has been a fine District Court Judge. It was Judge Sotomayor who 
issued a key decision in 1995 that brought an end to the work stoppage 
in major league baseball. She applies the law. In this, as in her other 
decisions, Judge Sotomayor followed the law. That is what judges are 
supposed to do. There is no basis for a charge that she is or will be a 
judicial activist.
  In his annual report on the judiciary this year on new Year's Day, 
the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court observed: ``Some 
current nominees have been waiting a considerable time for a Senate 
Judiciary Committee vote or a final floor vote. * * * ``The Senate is 
surely under no obligation to confirm any particular nominee, but after 
the necessary time for inquiry it should vote him up or vote him 
down.''
  Acting to fill judicial vacancies is a constitutional duty that the 
Senate--and all of its members--are obligated to fulfill. In its 
unprecedented slowdown in the handling of nominees in the 104th and 
105th Congresses, the Senate is shirking its duty. When those nominees 
are women or members of racial or ethnic minorities, this is especially 
disturbing.
  Today, after holding this nomination for seven months on the Senate 
calendar, the Senate will finally get a chance to vote on the 
nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Second Circuit. I look 
forward to our taking action to confirm this outstanding nominee.
  Mr. President, obviously I am not going to put this in the Record. 
But I would just note that this two-foot stack of papers contains some 
of the letters from distinguished lawyers and distinguished bar 
associations from all over this country--from prosecutors and defense 
attorneys alike; from people who do appellate work and those who do 
not; from every spectrum of the bar. These are all letters from people 
who support the nomination of Judge Sotomayor. These are people who can 
now finally get a response, a response indicating that this superb 
candidate is finally being considered by the Senate, that the anonymous 
holds are no longer being allowed to restrain her nomination, and that 
the Senate finally walked out into the daylight to vote. I have every 
confidence that vote will be a favorable one and that she will finally 
be confirmed--even though she was unjustly denied the seniority she 
would have gotten had the confirmation gone forward on schedule.
  Mr. President, I understand there is no one else seeking to speak on 
either side. And I have been told by the Republican side that I have 
permission to yield back their time. I yield their time. I yield our 
time. We are prepared to vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time having been yielded, the question is, 
Will the Senate advise and consent to the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor 
of New York to be the United State Circuit Judge for the Second 
Circuit? On this question, the yeas and nays have been ordered, and the 
clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Bond) is 
necessarily absent.
  Mr. FORD. I announce that the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Glenn), the 
Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Hollings), and the Senator from 
Illinois (Ms. Moseley-Braun) are necessarily absent.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Frist). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber who desire to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 68, nays 28, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 295 Ex.]

                                YEAS--68

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Bennett
     Biden
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Breaux
     Bryan
     Bumpers
     Byrd
     Campbell
     Chafee
     Cleland
     Coats
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     D'Amato
     Daschle
     DeWine
     Dodd
     Domenici
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Ford
     Frist
     Graham
     Grams
     Gregg
     Harkin
     Hatch
     Helms
     Inouye
     Jeffords
     Johnson
     Kennedy
     Kerrey
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lugar
     Mack
     Mikulski
     Moynihan
     Murkowski
     Murray
     Nickles
     Reed
     Reid
     Robb
     Rockefeller
     Roth
     Santorum
     Sarbanes
     Smith (OR)
     Snowe
     Specter
     Stevens
     Torricelli
     Warner
     Wellstone
     Wyden

                                NAYS--28

     Abraham
     Allard
     Ashcroft
     Brownback
     Burns
     Coverdell
     Craig
     Enzi
     Faircloth
     Gorton
     Gramm
     Grassley
     Hagel
     Hutchinson
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Kempthorne
     Kyl
     Lott
     McCain
     McConnell
     Roberts
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Smith (NH)
     Thomas
     Thompson
     Thurmond

                             NOT VOTING--4

     Bond
     Glenn
     Hollings
     Moseley-Braun
  The nomination was confirmed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the motion to 
reconsider is laid on the table and the President will be notified of 
the Senate's action.

                          ____________________