[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 27 (Thursday, February 13, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Page S2379]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Authority for Committee to Meet

  Mr. SANTORUM. I further ask unanimous consent that the Committee on 
the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a markup past the hour 
of 1 o'clock.
  Mr. REID. On behalf of Senator Kennedy, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Minnesota.
  Mr. COLEMAN. In deference to my colleagues, the Senators from 
Nebraska and Michigan, I will shorten my comments with regard to the 
Estrada nomination.
  I want to say this to America. I hope they are listening. They should 
be listening. These are important times. What my colleagues on the 
other side are doing by engaging in this filibuster is really changing 
the constitutional standard. And we love this Constitution. It talks 
about the Senate's role in providing advice and consent. In practice 
that has always meant 51 votes--a majority. The Constitution 
specifically lays out when a super majority is needed. What we are 
witnessing now is a change in the way we abide by this important 
document, where we will now require 60 votes to get our nation's judges 
confirmed. That is not good for America, and that is certainly not what 
our Founders wanted to do.

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Michigan.