Nomination Of Elena Kagan To Be Associate Justice Of The Supreme Court Of The United States--Continued
Floor Speech
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Mr. McCONNELL. Will the majority leader yield for an observation?
Mr. REID. I am happy to.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican leader.
Mr. McCONNELL. We had this conversation earlier today on the telephone. I think filing a cloture motion is completely unnecessary and--
Mr. REID. Let me just interrupt my friend. If my two friends feel this way--my concern is that we get locked into the 30-hour time. But I guess I could still do it on Thursday. So I know everyone----
Mr. McCONNELL. I cannot imagine what incentive anyone would have to create the scenario under which the majority leader is concerned with.
Mr. REID. The Republican leader and I know the many things we are trying to complete in the next few days. And because I do not do something, as I have had happen before--that somebody on either side of the aisle gets disturbed because of something I did or did not do--they say: I am not going to let you have a vote on Kagan now. That could be on my side or on your side.
So here is what I will do: I have not filed this motion yet. Based on the statement of my friend from Alabama and my friend the Republican leader, I will just hold this in abeyance. I just know what is coming tomorrow. If we get stuck in a 30-hour time period, realistically, it would take consent to even allow the debate to go forward on Kagan. I would certainly not stand in the way of that. And during the time of the 30 hours pending, as I understand the rules, I cannot file another cloture motion.
But recognizing that everyone wants to operate in the best way, what I would do is ask my two friends here, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee and my friend the Republican leader--would the Republican leader consider allowing, if we get stuck in some procedural thing tomorrow, which is Wednesday--we have to complete this by Friday, I would think--would my friend consider a unanimous consent request to allow me to file tomorrow? Because if we are postcloture with 30 hours, I cannot file cloture tomorrow.
Mr. McCONNELL. Yes. I would say to my friend the majority leader, I would be willing to consider that. The point I am trying to make here and the Senator from Alabama has tried to make is we are unaware of anybody on our side who does not expect a vote on Kagan on Thursday. As you and I have discussed on and off the floor, the thought was that we would have the Kagan vote. That would be the last vote prior to the August recess. That is the scenario under which we have been operating, and I am perplexed as to why my friend the majority leader feels this is a step he needs to take.
Mr. REID. The only thing I cannot do is guarantee that will be the last vote. There may be something else that comes up. But I will do my best to cooperate, as I know you will. So I will see if this is necessary some other time.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Republican leader.
Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, I appreciate the majority leader withholding. We can continue to discuss this, even tonight if he would like, the two of us, privately.
Mr. REID. We will wait until the vote takes place tomorrow and find out what, if anything, we need to do.
Mr. McCONNELL. Fair enough.
Mr. REID. I am not filing the motion at this time, and I appreciate very much the sincerity of my friend from Alabama, as usual, and, of course, my friend from Kentucky. He and I have worked together on a lot of things over the years, and I appreciate him being so candid today.
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