[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 169 (Tuesday, November 17, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7974-S7976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              NOMINATIONS

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, for the first 6 years of Barack Obama's 
Presidency, Republicans have tried to block nearly every nomination 
that has come to the Senate.
  From a record backlog of judicial nominees to the first-ever 
filibuster of a Secretary of Defense, Republicans abdicated their 
constitutional responsibility to provide their advice and consent 
regarding these nominations. In fact, the Republicans have blocked 
President Obama's nominees more than all the other Presidential 
nominees in history combined. Think about that. They have blocked more 
of this President's nominations than all the preceding Presidents in 
the history of our country. Seventy-one percent of all cloture motions 
filed on nominees during the history of the country were for President 
Obama's nominees. Seventy-three percent of cloture motions on judicial 
nominees were for Obama nominees. Ninety-seven percent of cloture 
motions on district court judges were for Obama nominees.
  When Republicans assumed power of the Senate in January, some may 
have expected that their obligation to govern would bring an end to 
their obstruction, but it didn't. We all know what happened last year. 
We all know they were holding up all nominations they didn't like--not 
all of them but all of those they didn't like, and that is most all of 
them.
  Something that has been traditional in this country, the National 
Labor Relations Board--they refused to allow us to have a vote. They 
filibustered every one of them, which meant that the National Labor 
Relations Board, which is so important to working men and women in this 
country, could not go forward. They didn't even have a quorum. The 
second highest court--some say the most important court in the land--is 
the DC Court of Appeals. They refused to allow any votes on nominees. 
They filibustered every one of them. We have five vacancies.
  Well, something had to be done, and it was done. It was done for the 
right reason, and it was good for the country. Those people have now 
been confirmed. We have a better country as a result of that.
  When the Republicans assumed power, they kept talking about how they 
wanted to get the Senate back to work. Sadly, we all know that has been 
an absolute joke. We have had more revotes than in the history of the 
country during the time they have been in power here. We have done less 
than any Senate in the history of the country. So getting the Senate 
back to work is not very honest.
  Sadly, those who were hoping that the Republicans would get serious 
about governing have been terribly disappointed. Republicans are still 
doing everything they can to block even the most qualified nominees.
  Many of these nominations are vitally important to our national 
security. I will list the people who have been blocked from having a 
vote in the Senate--and they have even gone one step further; they are 
not even holding hearings to allow them to come to the floor. Here are 
some who we could vote on and we should vote on: The Under Secretary of 
Defense for Personnel and Readiness, the Assistant Secretary of Defense 
for International Security, Under Secretary of the Air Force, Secretary 
of the Army, Under Secretary of the Army, Under Secretary of Treasury 
for Terrorism and Financial Crimes. Those positions are unfilled.
  Think about the Secretary of Treasury for Terrorism and Financial 
Crimes. They are not even bringing it to a vote. As the United States 
continues to fight ISIS and its terrorism, shouldn't we confirm the 
person in Treasury who is responsible for terrorism and financial 
crimes?
  How about the Secretary of the Army--do you think that is important? 
Being disappointed doesn't go very far if all my Republican colleagues 
say is a resounding no. But this is all part of

[[Page S7975]]

the Republican trend of grinding the nomination process to a halt.
  So far this year the Republican Senate has confirmed 100 fewer 
civilian nominees than it did during the most comparable Senate session 
in 2007, for example. That number also lags well behind any other 
recent session.
  Judicial emergencies are triple what they were at the beginning of 
this year. What is a judicial emergency? It means you have a judge who 
has more work than he can handle. Jury trials are not allowed to go 
forward, especially civil jury trials. Hearings on important issues, 
restraining orders, and other important issues are not held. In 2007 at 
this same stage we had confirmed 34 judges; this year, 10.
  Consider the nomination of a man by the name of Felipe Restrepo for 
the Third Circuit in Philadelphia. He was nominated more than 1 year 
ago. The seat to which Judge Restrepo has been nominated is a judicial 
emergency, meaning there are more cases than the judges are able to 
handle. The seat has been vacant since July 2013. Judges have said: We 
may do the work, but we are not doing it the way we should be doing it 
because we are so busy on everything. That seat, I will repeat, has 
been vacant since July of 2013.
  He is an American success story. He was born in Colombia and came to 
the United States as a toddler. In 1993 he became a U.S. citizen. He is 
eminently qualified, having graduated from the University of 
Pennsylvania--one of the Ivy League schools--and Tulane University Law 
School. He worked as a public defender and started his own practice 
focusing on civil rights and criminal defense issues. Since 2013 he has 
served with distinction as a district judge in the Eastern District of 
Pennsylvania. The Senate confirmed him in his current judge position 
unanimously.
  More than a year ago, Senator Casey and Senator Toomey--a Democrat 
and a Republican--jointly recommended Judge Restrepo to the President 
of the United States for this appointment to be a circuit court judge. 
Senator Toomey said at the time: ``I believe [Judge Restrepo] will also 
make a superb addition to the Third Circuit.'' But despite his public 
statements of support, the Republican Senator from Pennsylvania refused 
to allow the Judiciary Committee to move forward with a hearing on his 
nomination by refusing to turn in something called a blue slip, as it 
is blue. It has been tradition in the Senate forever that you need both 
Senators to turn in their blue slips. He won't turn his in, which has 
delayed confirmation of a qualified man who has been recommended to the 
President. He could advance Judge Restrepo by signing a piece of paper, 
but he has long refused to do so. It is kind of baffling when he makes 
public statements about what a great guy he is.
  After the media started asking questions about the delay, the junior 
Senator from Pennsylvania told the Huffington Post:

       No, I'm not blocking him. But I've got to run for this 
     lunch.

  The junior Senator from Pennsylvania couldn't wait for his lunch, but 
this judge and the people who he is responsible for taking care of are 
waiting. This Third Circuit is overwhelmed with work. It is a judicial 
emergency. Other judges are doing more work than they should be doing. 
They need him. So even though he couldn't wait for lunch, he is making 
millions of Americans wait for a judge they desperately need.
  In July his nomination was finally voted out of committee by voice--
meaning there was no controversy--showing, of course, that it should be 
voted on now, immediately. That was in July. Remember, that was a year 
after he was nominated. We are now in November. Why has a qualified 
judge's nomination sat on the floor since July waiting for a lunch that 
has never been completed?
  It is past time that the Senate confirmed Judge Restrepo. Senator 
Toomey should demand and ask the majority leader to allow us to vote on 
Judge Restrepo before we leave for Thanksgiving--and in the process, 
sign that little piece of paper. We would be happy to work with 
Republicans to confirm this good man today.
  Unfortunately, it is not just this junior Senator from Pennsylvania--
they should also confirm Judge Mary Barzee Flores to the Southern 
District of Florida. Unfortunately, Judge Barzee Flores's nomination 
has been held up due to the same delaying tactics that Senator Toomey 
used to stall Judge Restrepo. But this nominee is being delayed by one 
of the many Republicans running for President, the junior Senator from 
Florida.
  Senators Nelson and Rubio jointly signed and recommended that she 
become a judge in the Southern District of Florida. She was nominated 
on February 26, 2015--8 months ago--but since then the junior Senator 
from Florida is running for President. He doesn't have time to mess 
with a judicial emergency. The Miami-based seat is considered another 
judicial emergency. It has been without a Senate-confirmed judge for 
more than a year.
  Like her counterpart in Pennsylvania, she has an impeccable record. 
In fact, her nomination won wide praise in the Florida press. She is a 
familiar face to many in the legal community in South Florida, having 
served on the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Florida in Miami for more 
than a decade. Prior to her judicial service, Judge Flores worked as a 
public defender for 13 years. By any measure, she is well qualified and 
deserves a hearing in the Judiciary Committee.
  Senator Nelson indicated his support 8 months ago, but the junior 
Senator from Florida refuses to sign off on Judge Barzee Flores and is 
the only obstacle stopping the nomination from moving forward. It is 
puzzling that Senator Rubio is delaying a judge whom he helped 
recommend to President Obama. Without his approval, the chairman of the 
Judiciary Committee cannot schedule a hearing on the Barzee Flores 
nomination.
  Even with his busy schedule traveling around the country--I recognize 
he doesn't vote here. He does not like to be in the Senate. He said so. 
He does not like the Senate. That is why I said he should resign. He 
talked about other Senators who missed votes. Any Senator who ran for 
President during my time in the Senate loved the Senate. They may have 
missed votes, but they never, never denigrated the Senate. Senator 
Rubio has done just that. So even with his busy schedule running for 
President and missing votes in the Senate, he should be able to find 
seconds to sign his blue slip that would allow Judge Flores to move 
forward with a hearing.
  The junior Senator from Florida simply needs to sign a piece of paper 
to advance a qualified nominee whom he recommended to fill a judicial 
emergency in Florida, but like the junior Senator from Pennsylvania, he 
refuses to do so. His constituents are paying a price, a big price.
  Sadly, Republicans' strategy for the sake of obstruction is by no 
means limited--sadly, I say it again--to the junior Senators from 
Florida and Pennsylvania.
  Right now, Republicans are blocking important State Department 
nominations.
  The junior Senator from Arkansas is preventing three Ambassadors from 
getting their rightful vote on the Senate floor.
  The junior Senator from Texas is blocking one of the most qualified 
nominees before the Senate, Gayle Smith. She was nominated 6 months ago 
as the next Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International 
Development. With this refugee problem facing the world, facing our 
country, wouldn't it be nice if we had someone whose job it was to 
oversee this for our government? But, no, there is some extraneous 
issue the junior Senator from Texas--who is also running for 
President--is more concerned about than this important Agency.
  I have spoken at length about the obsession of the senior Senator 
from Iowa with blocking more than 20 qualified State Department 
nominees. The nominees he has blocked are people who have worked as 
Foreign Service officers for a long, long time for different periods of 
time. When it comes time that they get automatic changes in their 
status, they get a few more dollars and get a different title. He is 
blocking these. That is so sad. There is no need for it.
  If Republicans were serious about governing, they would change course 
and stop blocking these nominations. Every moment that Republicans 
delay, they are hurting our country in many

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different ways: our justice system, our foreign policy system, and our 
ability to respond to the havoc that is taking place in the Middle East 
right now. Let's put an end to all of this obstruction. Let's move 
forward with votes on these qualified consensus nominees as we have 
done historically. It wasn't until this Republican crowd arrived in the 
Senate that they started doing it. We have never had this before. We 
may have held somebody up for a while, but they basically put a stamp 
of disapproval on anything that President Obama wants to do.
  We are not going to stand by silently and allow these nominations to 
linger in the Senate. We are going to continue to demand that they 
schedule votes on these qualified, dedicated public servants so they 
can work on behalf of our great country.
  Mr. President, would the Chair announce the business of the day.

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