Senate Proceeding 08-05-09 on Aug 5th, 2009 :: 1:50:05 to 1:59:40
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1:50:02 to 1:50:24( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: supreme court. mr. lieberman: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from connecticut. mr. lieberman: i thank the chair. mr. president, it's a privilege to rise to speak on behalf of president obama's nomination of judge sonia sotomayor to be an associate justice of the united states supreme court. this takes me back to a shortly after i was privileged

1:50:05 to 1:59:40( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Joseph Lieberman

1:50:25 to 1:50:46( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: to be states senate when president george h.w. bush nominated david souter to be an associate justice of the supreme court of the united states. david souter had by that time been a -- in law enforcement as

1:50:47 to 1:51:11( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: an attorney general of new hampshire. as a former attorney general, i he had in new hampshire, a member of the new hampshire supreme court, and ultimately sat on the first federal circuit court of appeals.

1:51:13 to 1:51:33( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: he was proposed to president bush 41 warren rudman, senator from new hampshire, a great senator, a great friend. and i rember when senator rudman brought david around and president sh follow natured him.

1:51:34 to 1:51:54( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: and it's been my privilege to have friendship with -- to have had a souter, and in the company of former attorney general, particularly those who gather periodically to -- to speak of matters past, present and future futu. i -- i wanted to speak of justice souter because, of

1:51:55 to 1:52:16( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: course, it's his announcement of retirement that opens the vacancy that president obama has asked us to fill sonia sotomayor. in the case of now justice souter, i was of my early votes here to join

1:52:17 to 1:52:39( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: 89 of my senate colleagues in voting to confirm justice souter souter. with his retirement this summer now after two decades on the court, he has become the first justice to retire of the six supreme nominations i've had the

1:52:40 to 1:53:00( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: privilege and responsibility of voting. and i wanted to first thank commend justice souter for his generally and specifically for his thoughtful, distinguished service to the highest court of

1:53:01 to 1:53:24( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: our land. i know that justice souter is a very honorable, straightforward man. he is, if i may say so as englander, a quintessential new englander. he carries with him all the great constitutional traditions of the part

1:53:25 to 1:53:47( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: i'm proud to hail from, and he brings with him some characteristics that associated with a new englander. he -- he's straightforward. he's -- he's not rhetoric. he's one who --ho is submitted to integrity in his

1:53:48 to 1:54:08( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: life as well as his public life. he's got a great new engnd sense of humor, probably not often seen in his decisions but i bear personal testimony here, though not under oath at the moment, to that great quality that he has. i know that there are some who have become critics of justice souter who have said that he

1:54:09 to 1:54:29( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: isn't what they thought he would be when he was nominated, but, you know, when he was nominated, what a man of the law in our constitution, who believed in the values that underlay it, and who would

1:54:30 to 1:54:52( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: always do what he thought was right. and he has in his years on the i haven't agreed with everything everything, every opinion that justice souter but -- but this i know: that every time he sat to write

1:54:53 to 1:55:15( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: opinion or to join an opinion he did so after the most careful consideration. he's an extraordinarily hard-working, disciplined individual and ultimately reached a j was right according to the requirements of our constitution.

1:55:16 to 1:55:37( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: so i wanted to salute this american, quiet american but profoundly patri and to wish him well in the years that he has ahead of them as he returns choice to his hampshire.

1:55:38 to 1:55:59( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: the life tenure of justices, a lifetime appointment for those who choose not to step down, defines in many importance of the senate's role in providing advice and consent to court nominees. mr. president, i've always felt from the time i first came in the most -- the first vote i

1:56:00 to 1:56:22( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: cast was on a nomination for secretary of defense. that was in 1989. and i spent a lot of time looking the advice and consent clause. and to make a long sto short, felt that it wasn't for me to -- to vote for a nominee of the president, to advise and consent.

1:56:23 to 1:56:46( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: i did not have to feel that t nominee was the person i would have chosen but just that that nominee was -- was within the range of acceptable and prepared and qualified for that job. slightly higher standard for supreme court nominees because they do serve for lifetim appointment. and it is with that in mind that

1:56:47 to 1:57:09( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: of sonia sotomayor. i met with judge sotomayor. i've reviewed her judicial record, followed her confirmation hearing before the judiciary com on all of that, i conclude without question that she possesses remarkable intellectual and legal credentials, a distinguished record of experience in the

1:57:10 to 1:57:30( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: publ and private sector, and a deep commitment to our country and constitution. i will, therefore, vot nomination to the supreme court. judge sotomayor's as a federal judge speaks volumes about to serve on the court and why i

1:57:31 to 1:57:51( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: feel she more than passes the threshold for this lifetime appointment. during six years as a trial judge on the u.s. district court and 11 years as a judge on the court of appeals, sonia sotomayor h shown that she possesses a superior intellect,

1:57:52 to 1:58:12( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: a commendable judic temperament and an admirable respect for the role of established precedent in our legal system. it is usually and quite naturally true that those who know people best are those with whom they have worked most closely. those who have worked most closely with judge sotomayor are

1:58:13 to 1:58:33( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: consisnt eveny fewsive in their praise for her personal attributes, her professional qualifications and her fairness. chief justice dennis jacobs of the second circuit court of appeals said sonia sotomayor -- and i quote -- "is a well-loved colleague on our court. everybody from every point of view knows that she is fair and

1:58:34 to 1:58:54( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: decent in all her dealings." another colleague on the second circuit, senior judge roger minor has said -- and i quote -- "i don't think i'd go so far as to classify her in another. i think she just deser classification of outstanding judge

1:58:55 to 1:59:15( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: while the most significant facts about judge sotomayor are her personal qualifications and judicial record, i also note that women are uerrepresented on the supreme court of the united states. and i say that not just a matter of numbers but as a matter of qualifications. so i thank the president for wh

1:59:16 to 1:59:37( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: this historic nomination first american of hispanic no but consistent with her acknowledge her ethnicity and to say that with her selection,

1:59:38 to 1:59:41( Edit History Discussion )

Joseph Lieberman: another barrier has been broken in american life. and when that happens