[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 2]
[Senate]
[Page 2440]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   FILLING THE SUPREME COURT VACANCY AND COMPREHENSIVE ADDICTION AND 
                             RECOVERY BILL

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the chairman of the Judiciary 
Committee, Senator Grassley, and I will meet with President Obama later 
this morning. We will reiterate that the American people will have a 
voice in the vacancy on the Supreme Court as they choose the next 
President, who in turn will nominate the next Supreme Court Justice.
  In other words, we will observe the Biden rule. Americans have by now 
become well acquainted with that advice from the Vice President.
  Americans also know what both the current and future Senate 
Democratic leaders have had to say about judicial nominees when a 
different party was in the White House. They have heard the 
admonishment of the Senator from Nevada, Mr. Reid, that ``nowhere in 
[the Constitution] does it say the Senate has the duty to give 
presidential nominees a vote.'' They know the Senator from New York 
didn't even wait until the final year of President George W. Bush's 
term to declare that the Senate should ``not confirm a Supreme Court 
nominee except in extraordinary circumstances.''
  So look, let's use this debate to discuss ways we can work together 
to make progress for our country, such as tackling a drug crisis that 
is tearing communities apart in all 50 States.
  I was pleased to see colleagues join together to advance the 
bipartisan Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act just yesterday. I 
hope we will see that kind of cooperation continue. It is important for 
our country, and I look forward to discussing with the President how 
his administration can be helpful.

                          ____________________