[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3941-3942]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   FILLING THE SUPREME COURT VACANCY

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, last Thursday the senior Senator from Iowa 
came to the floor to declare that he is feeling no pressure in blocking 
President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland. 
However, Senator Grassley's actions paint a far different picture.
  On Monday the chairman of the Judiciary Committee took to the Des 
Moines Register, the very newspaper that has pointedly and repeatedly 
criticized his unprecedented obstruction, but the case Senator Grassley 
made in his op-ed only left Iowans scratching their heads. In effect, 
the senior Senator from Iowa said it is no big deal that we only have 
eight Justices on the Supreme Court. It is no big deal that our 
Nation's highest Court is deadlocking on important cases. With all due 
respect, that is the type of argument one makes knowing that logic and 
reason is not on your side, when you know the Constitution is not on 
your side.
  The senior Senator from Iowa seemed to understand the Senate's 
responsibility to act when a Republican was in the White House. In 2006 
he came to the floor and said:

       A Supreme Court nomination is not a forum to fight any 
     election. It is the time to perform one of our most important 
     constitutional duties and decide whether a nominee is 
     qualified to serve on the Nation's highest court.

  Now he has reversed himself--and that is an understatement. From the 
time he allowed the Republican leader to seize control of the Judiciary 
Committee and dictate his actions as committee chair, Senator Grassley 
has done everything to deflect responsibility on himself personally.
  He forced his committee members to sign loyalty oaths. He tried to 
force the committee to do its work away from the public eye. When 
Democrats objected, he canceled the meeting altogether. He tried to 
shut down debate from the Presiding Officer's chair in the Senate, 
which is unprecedented. He blamed conservative Chief Justice John 
Roberts for politicizing the Supreme Court. These are just a few of the 
things.

[[Page 3942]]

  This morning Senator Grassley finally met with Judge Garland. He met 
in private, far away from the public eye. These are not the actions of 
a Senator and chairman who is confident in his decision to block the 
Supreme Court nominee. This is the behavior of a Senator who knows he 
is on the wrong side of the Constitution and wrong side of history. 
Wouldn't it be easier for the senior Senator from Iowa just to do his 
job?

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