[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 101 (Thursday, June 26, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S4101]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUPREME COURT DECISION

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I welcome the Supreme Court's decision 
in the Noel Canning case. It represents a clear rebuke to the 
President's brazen power grab--a power grab I was proud to lead the 
effort against. Today's decision was clear, and it was a unanimous--
unanimous--rebuke of the President of the United States.
  As my Republican colleagues and I have said all along, President 
Obama's so-called recess appointments to the NLRB in 2012 were a wholly 
unprecedented act of lawlessness. The President defied the Senate's 
determination that it was meeting regularly, and the Supreme Court 
unanimously--unanimously--agreed with us.
  Today's ruling is a victory for the Senate, for the American people, 
and for our Constitution.
  The Court reaffirmed the Senate's clear and constitutional authority 
to prescribe its own rules, including the right to determine for itself 
when it is in session. And the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the 
President's completely unprecedented assertion of a unilateral 
appointment power--a power the Framers deliberately withheld from his 
office.
  Our counsel, Miguel Estrada, did an outstanding job defending the 
Senate and its uniquely important place in our constitutional system. 
By contrast, our Democratic colleagues shirked their institutional duty 
to defend the Senate. They failed, yet again, to stand up to the 
President. Although they failed to defend the Senate when it mattered 
most, they, their successors, and their constituents will benefit from 
today's ruling.
  The principle at stake in this case should extend well beyond narrow 
partisanship. It should be about more than just one President or one 
political party.
  In closing, the administration's tendency to abide only by the laws 
it likes represents a disturbing and dangerous threat to the rule of 
law. That is true whether we are talking about recess appointments or 
ObamaCare.
  So I hope the Obama administration will take away the appropriate 
lessons because the Court's decision today is a clear rebuke of this 
behavior.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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