I have been watching this... I am proud of the GOPs. I hope it works.
I don't understand that whole fillibuster thing.... Why can't the President
and or the Supreme court make them vote yes or now on judges? I don't
get it...
On Thursday, November 13, 2003, at 10:30 AM, Jen -- wrote:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- With humor, anger and a show of GOP unity, senators launched 30 hours of uninterrupted debate Wednesday on President Bush's nominees not making it to the federal appeals bench, setting up cots and preparing to cast blame at one another throughout the night.<image.tiff>
Most of the Republicans marched into the Senate together just before 6 p.m., sat down and listened to Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee open the debate by condemning Democratic filibusters to block judicial nominees.
"Tonight we embark upon an extraordinary session. For the next 30 hours Republicans and Democrats will debate the merits of three judicial nominees," Frist said.
"We will be considering the meaning of our constitutional responsibilities to advise and consent on nominations. We will discuss whether there is a need to enact filibuster reform so that nominations taken to the floor can get a vote."
Democrats, some appearing amused by the pomp and circumstance, were already in the Senate chamber waiting for the beginning of the debates.
The Senate had just finished a vote, and many of the GOP senators had to leave the chamber just to be in the group marching back in.
Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa held a sign for television cameras and Republican senators as they entered the chamber: "I'll be home watching 'The Bachelor.' "
Another Democratic sign, a big purple one with gold "168 to 4" written on it -- the number of judicial nominees confirmed by the Senate as opposed to the number blocked by Democrats -- upset Republican Judd Gregg of New Hampshire.
"That is clearly against the Senate rules," said Gregg, who had Democrats remove it until their turn to speak.
Republicans say the Democrats' filibusters against judicial nominees are also against the rules.
"That's why we're standing here tonight, to let the American people know that an abuse is occurring," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas.
Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia condemned the Republicans for leaving work on an appropriations bill to launch the debate.
"I'm not participating in this, this marathon, talkathon, blameathon, whatever you want to call this," Byrd said. "I'm not interested in that right now. I'm interested in the appropriations bill."
As the night grew late, fewer than 10 lawmakers were left on the floor as senators started preparing for the late night shifts.
While most of the focus will be on the Senate floor, senators plan to buttress their cases by holding news conferences throughout the night condemning the opposing side for its tactics: Republicans on the Democratic filibusters, Democrats on the Republicans' "reverse filibuster."
Democrats have used the threat of a filibuster to block four U.S. Appeals Court nominees so far:
Alabama Attorney General William Pryor, Texas judge Priscilla Owen, Mississippi judge Charles Pickering and lawyer Miguel Estrada.
Others, including California judges Carolyn Kuhl and Janice Rogers Brown, are expected to be blocked by Democrats as well.
Frustrated at the delays, Estrada withdrew his nomination in September.
In turn, Republicans -- who control the Senate -- scheduled the 30-hour debate despite their effort to finish bills revamping Medicare and energy policy, plus eight overdue spending bills in time to adjourn by November 21.
"We only wish they would devote the kind of attention they are to these 30 hours to the matters that the American people care most about," said Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota.
"They care a lot about the fact that 3 million of them don't have jobs. They care a lot about the fact that their health insurance is rising by more than 15 percent a year."
But Republicans want to draw attention to the blockades, having failed multiple times to get the 60 votes to force the confirmations in a Senate split with 51 GOP senators, 48 Democrats and one independent.
"Through our actions tonight, Republicans hopefully will be able to focus more attention on this problem, which in turn might stimulate enough outrage by the American public to sway at least a
few more Democratic senators to do the right thing and give these nominees a vote," said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona.
Not since 1994 has the Senate been in session past 4 a.m., Senate observers said.
Both sides set up strategy rooms right off the Senate floor with large screen televisions and props to help make their case to reporters and late-night C-SPAN viewers.
Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, for example, had a T-shirt saying "We confirmed 98 percent of President Bush's judges" on the front and "and all we got was this lousy T-shirt" on the back.
The Senate has confirmed 168 federal trial and appeals judges since Bush took office and Democrats have only blocked four.
Just in case someone gets sleepy, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the No. 2 GOP leader, said 12 to 15 senators have asked for cots to be set up so they can nap near the Senate floor.
Advocates of civil and abortion rights that have led the opposition against the four Bush nominees distributed to Senate offices care packages that included coffee, analgesics and breath mints.
A senator from each party will be on the floor at all times until at least midnight Thursday. For example, a Republican will talk from 3 a.m. to 3:30 a.m. while a Democrat watches.
They will switch roles for the next 30 minutes and then head home to bed, replaced by two others for the next shift lasting as little as one hour.
Because Senate rules require agreement from both sides to quickly confirm a nominee, the GOP cannot force a confirmation vote as long as a Democrat is present on the floor to object.
But if they fall asleep or stop paying attention, the GOP will immediately confirm the nominees, said Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania.
"They're forewarned: If the floor is not protected, the vote will be" called, Santorum said. "We are going to do everything we can to do what they're doing, ratcheting up the intensity on this issue."
In turn, Daschle said, if Republicans stop paying attention, they will immediately pass Democratic legislation such as a bill to raise the minimum wage or one to create a tax credit to stimulate creation of manufacturing jobs.
"The Republicans are consumed by those four jobs and ignore the 3 million jobs that we've lost over the course of the last three years under this administration's economic policies," Daschle said.
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