[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3175-3176]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOOD LABELING BILL AND FILLING THE SUPREME COURT 
                                VACANCY

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, 90 percent of Americans want to know what is 
in their food. All of Europe, China, Russia, they know what is in their 
food. We should know what is in our food. Senator Stabenow, the ranking 
member of the Agriculture Committee, has been trying to work to come up 
with some reasonable approach, but what she has gotten is not much help 
from the chair of the committee. There are no discussions going on 
right now that are meaningful. The Republican leader has offered an 
amendment that is a purely voluntary scheme, which is a quasi-Roberts 
proposal and would leave consumers actually in the dark, and that is 
the truth. But this is just another case of where Republicans in the 
Senate are trying to create an appearance of doing something without 
really doing anything at all. It happens so

[[Page 3176]]

often. This has happened so often during the past year. Things that my 
friend the Republican leader comes to the floor and boasts about are 
things we tried to do and we were blocked by Republican filibusters. We 
have been happy in the minority to be responsible and work with the 
Republicans to get things done, and we continue to do that. It is the 
right thing for the country. We are not trying to block everything, as 
they in fact did. We are trying to get things done.
  One of the things we need to get done that belies the fact of this 
great Senate Republican majority is the fact that we think there should 
be a Supreme Court Justice. There should be 9, not 8.
  One hundred years ago today, this very day, this Senate concluded the 
confirmation hearing of Justice Louis Brandeis, the first Jewish 
Supreme Court Justice ever. Prior to his nomination, it was not a 
custom for the Senate to hold public confirmation hearings to set up 
Supreme Court nominations, but over the last century these hearings 
have become a vital part of the Senate's constitutional duty to provide 
its advice and consent. For 100 years, the Senate has had open hearings 
to deal with controversies--real or imagined--surrounding Supreme Court 
vacancies and nominees.
  It is disappointing that Republicans are now willing to throw away a 
century of transparency and deliberation just to block President 
Obama's Supreme Court nominee. Republicans will not even meet with this 
man or this woman. Republicans will not allow a hearing for this man or 
this woman. Republicans will not allow a vote on this man or this 
woman, and that is wrong. We want transparency on what is going on here 
with the Supreme Court. We want transparency on the food we eat.
  They are adamant that President Obama's nominee will have nothing--no 
opening hearing, no public hearing, no hearing at all. It is further 
evidence of how far Republicans will go to avoid their constitutional 
duties.
  Mr. President, I see no one on the floor to speak, so I ask the Chair 
to announce the schedule of the day.

                          ____________________