[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 7]
[House]
[Page 10135]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1015
               SENATE AS THE NEW WHITE HOUSE RUBBER STAMP

  (Ms. LEE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. LEE. Mr. Speaker, Senate Republicans, at the prodding of the 
White House, will soon attempt to abolish the use of the filibuster 
when it comes to judicial appointments. It is clear that the White 
House is encouraging this action so it can have more control over the 
United States Senate. For over 200 years the right to filibuster, or 
the right to unlimited debate, has been a Senate tool that encourages 
compromise and moderation. Compromise and moderation, not two words 
that you equate with either this House or the White House 
unfortunately.
  President Bush does not like to compromise. That is why he is unhappy 
with having 95 percent of his judicial appointees approved by the 
Senate. Despite the fact that he has had more judges approved than any 
President since Reagan, Bush encouraged Senate Republicans to take the 
nuclear option by reappointing judges that could not receive bipartisan 
consensus during his first term.
  The President is also not a moderate. He said that conservative 
judges Scalia and Thomas are his favorites on the Supreme Court.
  The President is encouraging this extreme action so that he can 
eventually have Senate Republicans rubber stamp conservative justices 
to the Supreme Court, without any attempt to find common ground. This 
democracy should not tolerate this abuse of power.

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