COMMENDING SENATE FOR COURAGEOUS ACTION -- (House of Representatives - May 19, 2005)
(Mr. CARTER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute.)
Mr. CARTER. Mr. Speaker, the Constitution of the United States designed by our Founding Fathers set up a system of establishing a judiciary. And in that establishment, they intended for the President of the United States to nominate people on the bench and they intended for the Senate to give advice and consent to that nomination and, by an up-or-down vote, vote on whether or not those people can serve for life in the United States judiciary.
We are seeing today a constitutional challenge that is being met by the Senate as they go forward and meet their constitutional duty for an up-or-down vote for the judiciary and the nominees that have been proposed for our Federal judiciary.
Mr. Speaker, we expect fair and impartial judges to be appointed to the court; and just because they do not meet our political litmus test, we should not allow anyone to intervene with our constitutional duty which we take an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States as we have served in these offices.
I commend the Senate for the courageous act that they will go forward and do in the following weeks.
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