[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 15, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1813-S1814]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                       Nomination of Neil Gorsuch

  Finally, Mr. President, next week, the Judiciary Committee will take 
up the nomination of Neil Gorsuch for the U.S. Supreme Court so he may 
fill the seat that was vacated by the death of Justice Scalia. That 
process, of course, begins with hearings to consider his qualifications 
and his credentials, but heading into next week, we already know a lot 
about his record.
  He has been praised by people across the political spectrum--from 
liberals to conservatives--as a highly qualified and exceptional judge 
with impeccable integrity. He served with great distinction on the 
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, based out of Denver, for the last 10 
years, after having been confirmed by this Chamber unanimously. His 
hometown newspaper, the Denver Post, encouraged the President to 
nominate Judge Gorsuch before his nomination was even announced. This, 
of course, was the same newspaper that endorsed Hillary Clinton for 
President. Clearly, Judge Gorsuch has won the respect of those across 
the political spectrum and on both sides of the aisle. Last week, the 
American Bar Association announced its unanimous decision to grant 
Judge Gorsuch the highest rating available; that of ``well qualified'' 
as a nominee to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States.
  I should point out that both the minority leader and former chairman 
of the Judiciary Committee--the senior Senator from Vermont--have 
called the American Bar Association's rating system the ``gold 
standard'' when it comes to assessing the qualifications of judicial 
nominees.
  Judge Gorsuch will also bring decades of experience on the bench, as 
I mentioned a moment ago. He has also served in private practice, as an 
attorney with the Justice Department, and, of course, as a Federal 
judge.
  It is time to move forward with the President's nominee to fill the 
seat that was left open by the death of the late Justice Scalia, and I 
believe Judge Gorsuch is just the man to fill it. I look forward to 
hearing from him next week as we consider his nomination to this 
important position.
  I express my gratitude to Chairman Grassley and the ranking member, 
Senator Feinstein, for their efforts thus far in putting these hearings 
together, and I look forward to working with the rest of my colleagues 
on the Judiciary Committee to consider the nomination of Judge Gorsuch, 
starting next Monday, March 20.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I know both sides are working on trying to 
get an arrangement for the vote.
  Mr. President, I also want to tell my colleague from Texas that I 
listened very carefully to his remarks with respect to transparency in 
government. He has had a long interest in the Freedom of Information 
Act and the like. I noted that he made a comment about the Bay of Pigs, 
about which information is still classified, and I know something about 
this because my dad wrote a book about the subject. My hope is that my 
friend from Texas and his interest in transparency will also extend to 
some other areas.
  As I indicated, I am very familiar with my colleague's record with 
respect to Freedom of Information Act issues, which really is 
impressive. I

[[Page S1814]]

hope to get him involved in some other areas of transparency--perhaps 
in campaign finance reform and the issue I am going to be speaking 
about today, that of getting the American people the information--after 
6 years of stonewalling--on how many lawful Americans are getting swept 
up in what will be Dan Coats' top priority, that of the reauthorization 
of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
  I want my colleague to know, in my being very much aware of his good 
work on the Freedom of Information Act issues, that we are going to try 
and conscript them into some other transparency issues as well.
  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, may I ask the Senator to yield to consider 
a couple of brief consent requests?
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, of course.
  I will tell my colleague, as to what the majority and the minority 
have agreed to, as soon as those consent requests are ready, then we 
will take a time out from my remarks and make sure that matter is 
resolved.
  As we wait for the matter Senator Cornyn has mentioned, I will begin 
the discussion of the nomination of Dan Coats to be the Director of 
National Intelligence.
  I have known Senator Coats for many years. He has been the lead 
cosponsor of the bipartisan Federal income tax reform proposal, which 
has been a special priority of mine. I do not know of a single U.S. 
Senator who does not like Senator Coats. He is honest, a straight 
shooter, and gracious. My remarks are not about my personal affection 
for Senator Coats.
  The reason I am voting against the nomination is due to the matter I 
just touched upon with the Senator from Texas, which is, for 6 years, 
it has been impossible to get the intelligence community to provide the 
Congress and the American people information that is absolutely 
critical to the debate on reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence 
Surveillance Act. For 6 long years, Democrats and Republicans, both in 
this body and in the other body, have been trying to get this 
information.

  So this morning, given the fact that this legislation would be the 
top priority of Senator Coats, as he said in the Intelligence 
Committee, I want the Senate and the country to understand why this 
issue is so important.
  First, I am happy to yield to my friend from Texas.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Texas.