Executive Calendar

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, first of all, I want to take a moment to honor the life and service of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Justice Scalia was a dedicated public servant who gave so many years to our courts and our country. He and I didn't agree on every issue, but his intellect, passion, and commitment were unquestionable. I know he will be missed, and the thoughts and prayers of Washington State families go out to his family. Filling the Supreme Court Vacancy

Madam President, people across the country are now looking at what is happening here in Congress, and they are frustrated. They look at the many challenges we face as a Nation, and they want Democrats and Republicans to work together to tackle them to make sure our government is functioning and that it is working for all of our families, not just the wealthy and few.

Madam President, I share that frustration. We have been able to get things done when Democrats and Republicans work together to break through the gridlock. That shouldn't end just because it is an election year. It certainly should not end when it comes to one of our most important roles here in the Senate, working with the President to evaluate and confirm judges for the highest court in our land.

The Supreme Court plays such an important role in protecting the rights, liberties, and responsibilities of all Americans. Over the years the Court has made decisions that have moved our country in the right direction, and it has made decisions that have set us back. When the Court can do its work, it offers certainty to people across the country when it comes to their rights as workers or as patients or as consumers or as women or as citizens. At its best, it helps our judicial system rise above politics, above partisanship, and above the spats and sniping of the moment. In order to do that, the Court must have a full bench. It cannot have vacancies leading to potential deadlocks at every turn.

That is why I was so disappointed that hours after Justice Scalia passed away, Republican leaders jumped out of the gate to say they would not allow the vacancy to be filled while President Obama was still in office. Right away--before the Nation had a chance to take in and mourn the loss of a Supreme Court Justice, a man who seriously believed in the Constitution--Republican leaders injected politics and partisanship into a process that should be about our obligations as Americans.

The Constitution is very clear. Let me take a moment to read from it directly.

In article II, which clearly defines the powers of the President, section 2 states that ``he shall nominate and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court and all other Officers of the United States.''

Madam President, this could not be more explicit. The President ``shall nominate'' and shall appoint with ``the Advice and Consent of the Senate''--not shall nominate in the first 3 years, not shall nominate unless the Senate leadership wants to keep the seat open for a while. The President ``shall nominate.'' That is his responsibility.

Then it is our responsibility in the Senate to consider, advise, and ultimately help make sure that the vacancy is filled with a qualified person. Of course, the Senate has the right to weigh in with our advice and consent. It is our job to vet nominees sent to us by the President, to make sure they are qualified for the job, and to determine if they meet the basic standards of honesty, ethics, qualifications, and fairness. Personally, this Senator will want to evaluate if they will be independent, evenhanded in deciding cases, and if they will uphold our rights and liberties, including the critical right to privacy.

Republican leaders are not objecting to a person; they are objecting to this President being allowed to do his job. That is not advice and consent; it is politicize and obstruct.

Republicans say there is a precedent to stall on Supreme Court nominations in the last year of a President's term. That is not true. President Reagan had Justice Kennedy confirmed with a unanimous vote in a Democratic Senate in his last year in office.

Since 1975, the average number of days from nomination to final Senate vote is about 70 days. So this kind of obstruction and partisanship is absolutely wrong. People across the country will not stand for it, and I hope our Republican leaders will back down and do the right thing because evaluating and confirming Supreme Court Justices is one of the most important roles we have in the U.S. Senate.

In fact, it is this issue that actually pushed me to run for the Senate in the first place. Back in 1991 I was a State senator, a former school board member, a mom. Like so many people at that time, I watched the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings. For days I watched in frustration.

I couldn't believe this nominee wasn't pushed on the issues that I and so many others thought were so important to our country. I didn't feel the Members on that committee represented the full spectrum of perspectives, and I decided then and there to run for the U.S. Senate to give Washington State families a voice.

Now, as a U.S. Senator, I want my questions answered. I want to make sure my constituents have a seat at the table and I get to push nominees for the highest Court in the land on the issues I care about most, but I can't do that if Republicans play election-year politics and don't even allow us to have that debate. The American people will not have a voice, the Court will be dysfunctional for a year longer, and Republicans will have politicized a process that should be above this sort of petty partisanship.

Many Republicans may not want to hear this, but Barack Obama is still President Obama for almost a full year more. This Senator is hopeful that Republicans will step back from this very dangerous and very partisan path they are on and work with us to consider and confirm a nominee in a reasonable timeframe.

Families across the country deserve to have a functioning Supreme Court and a Congress that works well enough to allow this to happen.

Thank you, Madam President.

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