[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 173 (Thursday, October 26, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S6839]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                             Cloture Motion

  Mr. McCONNELL. I send a cloture motion to the desk.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under 
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
  The legislative clerk read as follows:

                             Cloture Motion

       We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the 
     provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, 
     do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination 
     of Stephanos Bibas, of Pennsylvania, to be United States 
     Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit.
         Mitch McConnell, Steve Daines, Tom Cotton, Pat Roberts, 
           John Boozman, Mike Rounds, Patrick J. Toomey, John 
           Barrasso, Cory Gardner, Richard Burr, Thom Tillis, 
           Roger F. Wicker, James E. Risch, John Cornyn, Lamar 
           Alexander, Dan Sullivan, Chuck Grassley.

  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that the mandatory quorum 
calls for the cloture motions be waived.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding rule 
XXII, the pending cloture motions ripen following the disposition of 
the McFadden nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, in my opening remarks today, I 
commended President Trump once again for the outstanding judicial 
nominations he has made, and I reiterated the Senate's determination 
once more to continue confirming them regardless of the often mindless 
partisan obstruction we have been seeing across the aisle.
  This pointless obstruction is designed simply to waste time, not to 
change an outcome, and it will not. It didn't stop the Senate from 
confirming Scott Palk, it will not stop the Senate from confirming 
Trevor McFadden, and it will not stop the Senate from confirming even 
more outstanding nominees next week. You can count on it.
  I have filed cloture on four more well-qualified nominees for our 
Nation's circuit courts: Notre Dame law professor Amy Barrett, a 
nominee for the Seventh Circuit; Michigan Supreme Court Justice Joan 
Larsen, a nominee for the Sixth Circuit; Colorado Supreme Court Justice 
Allison Eid, a nominee for the Tenth Circuit; and University of 
Pennsylvania law professor Stephanos Bibas, a nominee for the Third 
Circuit.
  By confirming these nominees, we can take a big step toward restoring 
our Nation's courts to their proper role, interpreting and applying the 
law based upon what it actually says, not what a judge might wish it to 
say. It is quite a departure from the last administration's philosophy 
when it came to selecting judicial nominees.
  For the last 8 years, we had a President who said a criterion for 
lifetime positions was the ability to empathize with certain groups 
over others. It came to be known as the ``empathy standard.'' That is a 
great standard if you are the party in the case for whom the judge has 
empathy, not so great if you are the other person. It also is not in 
keeping with the longstanding American legal traditions of applying the 
law equally to all, giving every litigant a fair shake, and ruling 
based on the actual meaning of our Constitution and laws, not what a 
judge or some preferred political constituency might wish they meant. 
That, I believe, is the view of the American people.
  President Trump has done a terrific job of nominating judges who are 
already helping to restore the courts to their intended function in our 
system of government. The nominees we will consider next week are sure 
to do the same.
  We will continue our efforts with consideration of the Barrett 
nomination on Monday. Amy Barrett is a professor of law at one of our 
Nation's premier law schools. Notre Dame happens to be a Catholic 
University. Amy Barrett happens to be a nominee who is a Catholic and 
who speaks freely and openly about her faith and its importance to her. 
For some on the left, that seems to be a disqualifying factor for her 
nomination.
  I would remind colleagues that we do not have religious tests for 
office in this country. There is no religious test for office in the 
United States of America.
  Amy Barrett's nomination has received outstanding reviews. She is 
clearly well qualified for the office to which she has been nominated. 
As the president of Notre Dame recently wrote, ``Her experience as a 
clerk for Judge Laurence Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals and 
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is of the highest order. So, too, 
is her scholarship in the areas of federal courts, constitutional law, 
and statutory interpretation.''
  Amy Barrett is going to make an outstanding Federal Circuit Court 
judge. So, too, will Ms. Larsen, Ms. Eid, and Mr. Bibas. I look forward 
to the Senate confirming all of them next week.

                          ____________________