[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3422-3423]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                               LEADERSHIP

  Mr. COBURN. Madam President, I am worried about the Senate as a body 
today. I came down here to the floor and I listened very intently to 
the Chaplain's prayer. He asked that we call on the higher wisdom; not 
man's wisdom, but God's wisdom. And I note with lots of consternation 
and worry that what is a very fine institution is being put at risk 
basically through failed leadership.
  Let me explain what I mean by that. Having lived 64 years and running 
an organization and running a business, the quality that is most needed 
in leadership is a quality called reconciliation. And when that doesn't 
happen by our leaders--and I'm not singling out any one leader in 
particular--when that effort, that reconciliation, doesn't happen, it 
is not just directly related to the events surrounding that lack of 
reconciliation, it does damage to institutions. What we are about to 
see carried out today is the placing of partisan principles on both 
sides of the aisle ahead of the principle of advice and consent and the 
Senate's role.
  Unfortunately, our leader didn't protect the Senate's rights under 
the Constitution with the last four nominations in terms of recess 
appointments, and we can debate that. But the fact is

[[Page 3423]]

as an institution--whether it had been a Republican leader or 
Democratic leader--the No. 1 issue that needs to be protected is the 
rights of the Senate as related to the other branches of government. I 
think that is unfortunate, and I think that is part of our problem 
today as we fail to trust one another to do what is right.
  Let me go back to leadership. The real qualities of great leaders are 
they bring people of disparate views together and they solve those 
problems; they never accept the fact that an impasse is the answer. 
What we have queued to set up today is going to be an impasse. 
Everybody knows it. It is going to be an impasse. All that does is 
reflect poorly on the Senate as a whole and on the leadership of the 
Senate as a whole on both sides. So my caution would be to return to 
what Chaplain Black said: There is greater wisdom than we have. That is 
the wisdom we ought to be drawing from as we reconcile differences in 
the Senate, rather than destroy the comity of the Senate and destroy 
the ability of us to work together in the Nation's best interest in the 
future.
  I would also tell you that the other thing I am disappointed about is 
that we have the Senate focused on that small issue instead of the very 
great issues in front of our Nation--the very fact that we are going 
bankrupt; that we have not done one thing this year to actually trim 
the excesses of the Federal Government; that we have not addressed in 
any way, shape, or form the very problems that are going to create 
tremendous burdens not only to our children but those people who, 
through no fault of their own, will not have a safety net in the future 
because we failed to make the tough decisions today, and that is 
wrapped up in political expediency.
  One of my favorite quotes--it is a summary of Martin Luther King, 
Jr.'s words. It is not his exact words, but he said the following: 
Cowardice asks the question, Is it safe? Expediency asks the question, 
Is it politic? Vanity asks the question, Is it popular? But conscience 
and character ask the question, Is it right?
  What I put forward to the two leaders today is what we are about to 
let unfold today in the Senate: Is that the right thing for the Senate 
or does it have to do with expediency and popularity? And if it is to 
do with those two things--whether it is connected or not--that is 
called failed leadership. That is a failure to lead, to reconcile, to 
bring people together. We are better than that. Our leaders are better 
than that. We should not allow this to happen.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Illinois.
  Mr. DURBIN. I ask unanimous consent to speak in morning business on 
majority time, and I will yield, of course, to a Republican Senator 
coming to the floor because I know they have some 15 minutes or so 
remaining.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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