[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 8]
[Senate]
[Pages 10324-10325]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           UNANIMOUS CONSENT AGREEMENT--JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the vote on 
the pending Prado nomination occur at 2:15 today with the remaining 
time until then equally divided between the chairman and the ranking 
member. I further ask consent that following the vote, the President 
immediately be notified of the Senate's action. I also ask consent that 
on Monday, May 5, at a time determined by the majority leader after 
consultation with the Democratic leader, the Senate proceed to 
executive session for the consideration of Calendar No. 34, the 
nomination of Deborah Cook to be a U.S. district judge for the Sixth 
Circuit; provided further there be 4 hours for debate equally divided 
between the chairman and ranking member or their designees. Further, I 
ask that following the use or yielding of that time the Senate proceed 
to a vote on the confirmation of the nomination, again with no 
intervening action.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Nevada.
  Mr. REID. I ask that the consent be modified so we have a vote on 
Prado at 2:15 today.
  Mr. FRIST. I believe that was the way it was requested.
  Mr. REID. I am sorry. I missed that. I was visiting with someone 
else.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the unanimous consent 
request?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, it is my understanding that the 
distinguished majority leader wishes to have a vote on Cook at 4:45 on 
Monday. Is that true?
  Mr. FRIST. That is correct. The first vote on Monday will be 4:45, 
and that would be on the Cook nomination.
  Mr. REID. I ask consent that that be part of what we are doing today. 
I ask consent that the vote occur at 4:45 and there be a period prior 
to that of 4 hours for debate on the Cook nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. REID. And that 1 hour of that time be reserved for Senator 
Kennedy.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I thank all of the Senators who have been 
involved in leadership on the Democratic side and the Republican side 
in working on this agreement. I particularly thank Senator McConnell 
for his perseverance and counsel over the course of the past several 
days. Both sides have worked in good faith to come to this conclusion.
  I now would ask for a further clarification with respect to the 
nomination of John Roberts. That nomination will be reported a week 
from today. We have been assured by the other side of the aisle that 
there would be no filibuster on the nomination of John Roberts; also, 
that the Senate would vote up or down on his confirmation. I know 
Members will want to speak on that nomination and we will be prepared 
to provide time on Thursday for that debate.
  I, therefore, expect that prior to completing our business next week 
we will vote on the nomination. I yield to my colleague with regard to 
this understanding.
  Mr. REID. The statement of the Senator is absolutely correct. There 
will be no filibuster. I would only ask, as the Senator has already 
indicated, that there be ample time--it may take as much as 6 hours of 
debate--prior to a vote on that. The Senator said it would

[[Page 10325]]

be on Thursday. It may have to spill over until Friday. We may not be 
able to do all 6 hours on Thursday.
  I was just saying--I know the Senator was preoccupied--we may take as 
much as 6 hours, 3 hours on our side; the other side may not need as 
much time, and so we may not be able to complete all that on Thursday. 
That is strictly up to the leader, but we have already indicated we 
would need up to that much time.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I want to make sure there is adequate time 
for debate. I would like to try to have the vote by the end of next 
week, if at all possible.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, Senator McConnell and I worked as much as we 
could to get this to a point where we are today. I do not like to 
acknowledge this often, but we were unable to do that. It was only 
because of the intervention of the two leaders that we were able to 
arrive at this point. We need not go into all the details of what went 
into this agreement, but I want to publicly acknowledge the good work 
of the Democratic leader and the majority leader in allowing us to get 
to this point. This has been done very quickly on the Senate floor, but 
to arrive at this point has taken literally hours of time.
  This is a significant breakthrough. I think, with all the difficulty 
we have been having with judicial nominations, that this is a 
significant advancement. It is typical of what has to be done when 
dealing with legislation. A lot of people have to give up what they 
felt was something they could not give up.
  I also would say that Senator Hatch and Senator Leahy have been 
involved. I think they have helped the advancement of the Senate by 
their agreeing to things to which a little while ago they would not 
have agreed. I wish to publicly commend the two leaders, and the 
chairman of the committee and the ranking member of the Judiciary 
Committee, Senators Hatch and Leahy, for some excellent work. This is 
not anything that will ever be written in the history books but in my 
mind I have some knowledge of what is good for the Senate and I am 
convinced that what we have done today is some of the best work we have 
done all year.
  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I thank my colleague for his comments and 
agree wholeheartedly in terms of the efforts that have been made in 
good faith on both sides of the aisle. It has been difficult in terms 
of negotiations but everybody has been involved at the leadership 
level, as well as working with the respective leaders of the committee. 
We have come to a satisfactory conclusion. By the end of next week we 
will have accomplished the goals we all have, and that is to keep the 
process working--it is not always pretty--in a way that will deliver 
what the American people deserve.
  We will have more to say later today, but we will expect to have two 
votes on Monday, the first at 4:45 and then a vote later, which we will 
set up the time agreement probably an hour or so after that vote, with 
consideration to Miguel Estrada. Again, we will make specific 
announcements but we will have two votes on Monday. I point out the 
first one is at 4:45, which we have tried to announce a few days ago to 
make sure people are back for that particular vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the distinguished 
Senator from New York, Mrs. Clinton, and I control the next half hour 
as if in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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