Senate Proceeding 07-30-09 on Jul 30th, 2009 :: 4:19:10 to 4:24:55
Total video length: 5 hours 11 minutes Stream Tools: Stream Overview | Edit Time

Note: MetaVid video transcripts may contain inaccuracies, help us build a more perfect archive

Views:54 Duration: 0:05:45 Discussion

Previous speech:

Next speech:

4:19:06 to 4:19:28( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: and puts us on a fiscally sustainable path for years to come. thank you. mr. chambliss: mr. president? the presid senator from georgia. mr. chambliss: mr. president, i rise this evening to speak on

4:19:10 to 4:24:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Saxby Chambliss

4:19:29 to 4:19:49( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: the nomination of judge son sotomayor to be the next associate justice of the united states supreme court. mr. president, we all know that elections have consequences, and because of this, i have tried to give deference to the various nominees submitted obama. i nominees, but i have voted for some even though i didn't

4:19:50 to 4:20:11( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: necessarily believe that they were the best people that he might have nominated. the case of supreme court is unique. this is not a cabinet member who will rotate out or leave at the end of the president's term. supreme court justices are there for life a will affect present and future generations of americans. with this in mind, i reviewed

4:20:12 to 4:20:33( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: opinions written or concurred in by judge sotomayor. reviewed of judge sotomayor. talked with lawyers who practiced in new york, lawyers who have tried o before judge sotomayor and others who know her by reputation and also listened to and reviewed testimony before the judiciary committee in her

4:20:34 to 4:20:54( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: confirmation proceeding. in addition i spent the better part of an hour in a one-on-one conversation with the judge. certainly she has all the education an judicial background to be confirmed as a supreme court justice. her judicial temperment is not in question. me lawyers felt she was not qualified for the supreme court.

4:20:55 to 4:21:15( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: others felt that she is. judge sotomayor has a very compelling personal story in being hispanic and being female and being nominated to the u.s. supreme court adds more credibility to that saga of living the american dream. as americans wehould be proud that she has been nominated. but the role of the senate

4:21:16 to 4:21:37( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: give the president advice and consent and we are required to go beyond the personal side of the nominee. mr. president, after reviewing the information i've collected over and over again, i have concluded that i cannot support judge my reasoning is as follows: first, lawyers nominated to the

4:21:38 to 4:21:59( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: supreme court should be in a class by themselves. my only experience as a members of -- member of t this process is the confirmation of chief justice roberts and justice alito. clearly, they are lawyers who are in a premier class. lawyers with whom i spoke who know judge sotomayor do not put her in that category.

4:22:00 to 4:22:22( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: even those who say she should be confirmed do so in a less than enthusiastic way. second, i'm a strong supporter of the second amendment. and i am concerned about the reasoning of judge sotomayor in cases where she has considered this issue.

4:22:23 to 4:22:44( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: in d.c.v heller there was at issue the application of the -- it is likely to be decided by the supreme court in year or so. as a member of the second circuit, judge sotomayor ruled in the negative on this issue in the maloney case without an explanatio simply citing an old supreme court case that is not really directly on point and is certainly outdated.

4:22:45 to 4:23:05( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: this is too important an issue to give it cursory review. thirdly, aim concerned about the apparent -- i am concerned about 8 parent leaning of judge sotomayor to use foreign law to interpret u.s. laws in our constitution. in her april 28, 2009, speech to

4:23:06 to 4:23:27( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: the puerto rican aclu, judge sotomayor said while foreign law should not be used as precedent she stated it should be considered. my question is: why? judge sotomayor's answer in that same speech to that question was to align herself with justice ginsburg, who supports the use of foreign law and recently

4:23:28 to 4:23:48( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: stated that foreign opinions can add to the story of knowledge relevant to the solution of a question. judge sotomayor went on to say that unless american courts are more open to ideas and foreign cases, we are going to lose influence in the world. from -- from an american juice

4:23:49 to 4:24:10( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: prudence -- jur is prudence standp is skewed to me. lastly the highly pub sized ricci case is puzzling. this opinion is unusual for such a precedent setting case. no analysis for the decision is very troubling to the lawyer in me. in my conversation with judge

4:24:11 to 4:24:31( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: sotomayor, she stated that the second circuit panel was simply following precedent. and if the supreme court reversed theecond circuit opinion, it would be establishing a new precedent. th did reverse the second ccuit and clearly stated that no precedent was being followed

4:24:32 to 4:24:53( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: the lower court. judge sotomayor did not adequate i will explain what precedent she was talking about and, in fact, did not answer this question when directly asked the question by senator kyl at her confirmation hearing. being less than forthcoming in every respect is very disturbing. mr. president, for all of the

4:24:54 to 4:24:55( Edit History Discussion )

Saxby Chambliss: above reasons i will cast a no