[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 53 (Monday, March 27, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S1985]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                    Nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, earlier today in the Senate Judiciary 
Committee, we considered the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to serve 
as the next Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. According to Judiciary 
Committee practice, that nomination was held over for a week, which 
means that Judge Gorsuch will be voted out of the Senate Judiciary 
Committee on April 3, and it will be available for floor action 
thereafter.
  As the Nation--and perhaps even the world--knows, we held lengthy 
hearings last week to review his qualifications, his experience, and 
his approach to judging. I have to say that he really impressed 
everybody who approached this whole issue with an open mind about 
whether he was qualified to serve on the High Court. But unfortunately, 
as those of us who work in the Senate know, there has already been a 
threat by the Democratic leader to filibuster his nomination.
  It is really important for the country to recall that there has never 
been a successful partisan filibuster of a nominee to the U.S. Supreme 
Court. Sometimes people want to talk about Abe Fortas in 1968, but 
ultimately Abe Fortas, who was nominated to be Chief Justice of the 
Supreme Court by his friend and mentor, Lyndon Johnson, asked to 
withdraw his nomination after one failed cloture vote and ultimately 
ended up resigning from the Supreme Court of the United States in 
disgrace. It is hardly a precedent for what Democrats have said they 
are going to do with regard to this good man and this good judge, Neil 
Gorsuch.
  I understand my friend the Democratic leader has a tough job. He has 
a split caucus--those who want to take Democrats over the ledge and 
those who would like to try to find some way to work out a reasonable 
accommodation. Unfortunately, he is under a lot of pressure from the 
radical groups on the left to do whatever he can to tank this superb 
nominee. Again, this would be unprecedented in American history.
  It is true that Democrats in 2013 did the so-called nuclear option, 
which has established a new precedent in the Senate with regard to 
lower court judges--circuit court judges and district court judges--
along with Cabinet nominees. Ironically, the so-called Reid precedent 
of 2013 has kind of come back to bite them a little bit, as President 
Trump now has been able to see all of his Cabinet members confirmed 
with 51 votes, or, in the case of one, 50 plus the Vice President.
  I was glad to see a quote from a report in a Vermont publication from 
our friend the senior Senator from Vermont, the former chairman of the 
Judiciary Committee, in which he said he wasn't inclined to filibuster 
the nomination of Judge Gorsuch and that he deserves a minimum of an 
up-or-down vote. So I hope others will follow the lead of Senator 
Leahy, who has been in the Senate a long time in the majority and in 
the minority. He realizes it is important to maintain a certain level 
of tradition and decorum here in the Senate, because usually what goes 
around comes around. Unfortunately, this new precedent of filibustering 
Supreme Court Justices, if allowed to happen, is going to continue to 
be very damaging to the Senate and even to the country.
  I hope he is still of that same mind--that he is not inclined to 
filibuster the nomination of Judge Gorsuch. If he takes that position, 
I know he will influence a lot of colleagues on the other side of the 
aisle because of his distinguished record of service in the Senate and 
in the Judiciary Committee.
  I look forward to the committee approving Judge Gorsuch's nomination 
next week and then taking that nomination up on the Senate floor and 
confirming the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to serve as the next 
Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.