[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 60 (Wednesday, April 16, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S3040]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page S3040]]
                          JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS

  Mr. GRAHAM. Mr. President, No. 1, I wish to acknowledge the progress 
that was made yesterday between Senator McConnell and Senator Reid 
regarding an impasse over circuit court nominations.
  The average, I believe, for the last 2 years of a Presidential term 
when the opposing party had control of the Senate, was 15 circuit court 
nominations being confirmed by the Senate. At this point, we are at 
seven.
  As I understand, an agreement reached yesterday between Senator Reid 
and Senator McConnell will allow three circuit court judges to be moved 
forward by the May 23 recess. I appreciate that progress.
  I live in the State of South Carolina, which is in the Fourth 
Judicial Circuit. We have a judicial emergency on hand there. A third 
of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is vacant. We have two nominees, 
one from South Carolina and one from North Carolina, who have been 
awaiting hearings and confirmation for well over 200 days now.
  I urge my colleagues to allow these fine candidates for the judiciary 
to move forward and the Senate get on about its business when it comes 
to judges. What I worry the most about is, over the last 4 or 5 years, 
we have had an experience with judges pretty much unknown to the 
Senate. There are a lot of anecdotal stories, a lot of cases in the 
past where people slow walked. I can only speak to my time here. I was 
involved in the Gang of 14 to make sure the Senate did not do something 
that would haunt the body for years to come. The Gang of 14 was a 
bipartisan effort to make sure filibustering judges would be done only 
in extraordinary circumstances, simply because if we engage in this 
practice of trying to hold up Presidential nominations based on 
philosophy and not qualifications, if all of us become President, so to 
speak, saying, I am not going to allow a vote on a judge I wouldn't 
have picked, it becomes chaos.
  I urge Senators Clinton and Obama, who have been, quite frankly, part 
of the problem, to look at the model they are setting, because if they 
do secure the White House, they do not want this to come back to haunt 
them.
  I want an independent judiciary. I wish to make sure it is well paid 
and insulated as much as possible from an unfair process. The 
confirmation process is getting out of hand, overly political, too many 
political interest groups on the left or right have an inordinate 
amount of say in who gets on the bench. The role of the Senate is to 
pass judgment, an up-or-down vote, on qualified nominees sent over by 
the President.
  I found in the Senate if you get someone who is an outlier, there is 
usually bipartisan support to say no to that nominee. President Bush 
sent over a couple nominees I opposed. Generally speaking, I expect my 
time in the Senate to defer as much as possible to a Presidential 
nominee who I think is qualified and not base my vote or denying a 
nominee a vote based on the fact I would not have chosen that person. I 
certainly would not have chosen Justice Ginsburg, if I was President, 
but she is eminently qualified and received well over 90 votes, I 
believe.
  I hope in the future we will allow judges to come to the floor, 
through the committee, in a timely process. The Fourth Judicial Circuit 
is in dire need of Judge Conrad and Mr. Steve Matthews from South 
Carolina having hearings and a vote. If a Senator does not like these 
nominees, they can vote against them. What happened there is creating a 
problem in the area of the country in which I live and, quite frankly, 
it is unfair.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues to break this logjam. 
Senator Durbin and Senator Kennedy were kind enough to meet with Steve 
Matthews, the nominee from South Carolina, and I appreciate them doing 
so.
  Let's not get into a pattern that will come back to haunt us as a 
body and do a lot of damage to the confirmation process and over time 
erode the independence of the judiciary.
  I appreciate the progress that was achieved yesterday, but there is a 
lot more to do, particularly when it comes to the Fourth Circuit.
  I yield the floor, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DeMINT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

                          ____________________