Senate Proceeding on Oct 27th, 2009 :: 2:06:15 to 2:11:05
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2:06:15 to 2:11:05( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Benjamin L. Cardin

2:06:21 to 2:06:42( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: yield the floor. a senator: madam president? the pres mr. cardin: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: the senate is not in a quorum call. mr. cardin: madam president, i -- i know that my friend from alabama mentioned the ongoing issues of filling a judicial vacancies.

2:06:43 to 2:07:05( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: and we can talk about individual cases, and i'm more than happy to talk about individual cases. but i think we need to look at the record, look at the number of judges, the number of vacancies and the records durg the different administrations. there is a disturbing trend that's developing with the

2:07:06 to 2:07:26( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: republicans blocking president obama's confirmations by inaction, by not allowing us to, in fact, bring those nominations to the floor for a confirmation vote. i'm just going to use this -- two charts tooint out the differences that we've seen with republicans using the tactics that they can to deny

2:07:27 to 2:07:47( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: confirmation votes and what happeneduring the bush years when president bush made the appointments. during the clinton yr we saw the increasing number of cancies that could not be brought to the floor for -- for votes. and it reached 110 vacanes in the judicial branch of

2:07:48 to 2:08:08( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: government at the end of the inton administration. the democrats worked with the republicans during president bush's yrs under times in which the republicans were in control of congress and when the democrats were in control of congress. and you see we brought down the number of vacancies by 50%, down

2:08:09 to 2:08:30( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: to 53 when president bush left office. we're now up to 94. so we're seeing a significant increase in the number of -- of unfilled positions and, yes, there are noncontroversial nominees that have been approved by the judiciary committee that have not been brought to the senate floor. i want to talk about the appellate courts because the

2:08:31 to 2:08:52( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: appellate courts reay represent, we think, a deliberate effort to slow walk the confirmation process. when president clinton was in office, we saw an escalating number of appellate justices that were delayed and not acted upon doubling from 16 to 32 when clinton left office.

2:08:53 to 2:09:13( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: we know that the appellate courts are where most of the appellate decisions will be made. very few decisions go to the supreme court of the united states. during president clinton's years the republicans used every tactic they could to deny the confirmation of appellate court judges. look at record during president bush, look at what the democrats

2:09:14 to 2:09:34( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: did, whether in the minority or majority. we not only reduced the number of vacancies on the appellate court, we brought it down from 32 to nine. when president obama took office it was 13 and now it is up to 21.

2:09:35 to 2:09:56( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: there are those ready for action now on the floor of the united states senate. this is an abuse of the right of the minority. we need to vote on these confirmations. the appellate courts need these judges, the district court needs these judges. i would urge my colleagues we have right now over 10 judges ready for a vote on the floor, none of which i believe will

2:09:57 to 2:10:17( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: require a -- a -- an strod n.r.a.y -- extraordinary vote. i think they're basically without controversy. let's get on with t responsibilities. let's bring these forward. these records -- facts indicate without -- clearly there's been a deliberate effort, it's not right. i would ask any republican friends, let's end.

2:10:18 to 2:10:38( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: this let's bring these matters up for an up or down vote. with that, madam president, i would yield the floor. before yielding the floor, have five i ask unanimous consents, they have been approved by the majority and minority leaders, i ask that these requests be agreed to and printed in the record.

2:10:39 to 2:11:00( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cardin: i yield the floor.