[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Pages 15301-15302]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          JUDICIAL NOMINATIONS

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, as the Senate prepares to go into recess, 
Senate Republicans are refusing to allow confirmation votes on the more 
than 20 judicial nominees who will now be stuck in limbo for months. 
There is no good reason why the Senate cannot confirm these nominees 
before the recess other than wholesale obstruction of a co-equal branch 
of government's nominees.
  The Senate Republicans' baseless obstruction includes blocking from 
consideration nominations made to their home States. Right now, there 
are five nominations pending to fill judicial emergency vacancies in 
Kentucky and Georgia, which have gone unfilled for years. The 
Republican Senators from these States have come out in strong support 
for the nominees from their respective States. Yet the Republican 
leadership refuses to agree to schedule votes on these or any other 
nominations. This is simply delay for delay's sake.
  Currently on the Senate Executive Calendar are qualified nominees to 
fill Federal trial court vacancies in Kentucky, Georgia, the District 
of Columbia, Wisconsin, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
Connecticut, and Missouri. All but two of the nominees were reported by 
the Senate Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support. I wonder what 
the constituents of these

[[Page 15302]]

States think is causing this delay? I can assure you it is not Senate 
Democrats.
  This Republican pattern of refusing to confirm noncontroversial, 
consensus nominees has gone on for the duration of this Presidency. I 
have sought to remind my fellow Senators that their refusal to confirm 
these nominations prior to an extended recess is an unfortunate 
departure from Senate tradition. Time and again I have urged Senate 
Republicans to stop their obstructive practices and delay tactics. And 
once again, I am disappointed to see partisanship and senseless 
obstruction continue to keep the Senate from fulfilling its 
constitutional duty of advice and consent.
  It is true that since the beginning of this year we have reduced the 
vacancies on our Federal courts from 92 to 59, but no Senator should 
believe that our work is done. Even if we were to confirm the more than 
20 judicial nominees currently pending on the Senate floor, the Federal 
judiciary remains significantly understaffed. The Judicial Conference 
has identified the need for 91 new judgeships in some of America's 
judicial districts and circuits with the highest caseloads. Last year, 
Senator Coons and I introduced the Federal Judgeship Act of 2013 to 
enact these recommendations into law. The timely administration of 
justice should not be a partisan issue. It is an issue that affects all 
Americans, and the Senate should take it seriously by passing this 
bill.
  The recommendations of the Judicial Conference underscore the need 
for the Senate to fulfill its obligations to the Federal judiciary and 
the American people. I have heard some Republican Senators claim the 
opposite by citing the total number of judicial confirmation under this 
President. It is true that the Senate has now confirmed 278 of 
President Obama's circuit, district, and U.S. Court of International 
Trade nominees, compared to 254 confirmations at the same point in the 
last administration. Yet these numbers are meaningless without 
providing their proper context. These confirmations were sorely needed. 
There remain 59 vacancies on the Federal bench--far more than the 45 
vacancies at this point during the Bush administration. There are an 
additional 25 announced future judicial vacancies on our Federal courts 
that will also need to be filled in the coming months. If you care 
about providing our co-equal branch of government with the resources it 
needs to serve its constitutional role, then it is important to look at 
the number of vacancies that still exist and how long some of them have 
remained empty.
  Vacancies remain high not because of a failure of Senate Democrats or 
President Obama to make judicial confirmations a priority. These 
vacancies persist because of the endless obstruction of partisan 
Republicans who take every opportunity they can to shut down the 
important work of the Senate. Last year, no longer content to block 
individual judges, Senate Republicans attempted a wholesale filibuster 
of three nominees to the D.C. Circuit, without even considering their 
qualifications. Then, instead of confirming the consensus judicial 
nominees pending on the Executive Calendar prior to the end of the 
congressional session, Republicans forced the President to renominate 
each nominee and for the Senate Judiciary Committee to report them 
again this year.
  In 2014, Senate Republicans have proceeded to filibuster each and 
every judicial nominee. The Senate has taken 62 cloture votes on 
judicial nominations so far this year, amounting to well over 400 
wasted hours that the Senate should have been spending considering 
legislation to help the American people. Never before has the Senate 
seen the systematic filibuster of every judicial nominee or such unfair 
treatment of qualified, consensus nominees.
  The Senate should act quickly to confirm the judicial nominees 
pending on the Senate floor. Because Republican obstruction will 
prevent us from finishing our work before the elections, we must return 
to session as soon as possible after the elections in November to 
complete our important work. The American people deserve courts capable 
of providing access to swift justice, not empty courtrooms and delays.

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