Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

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Mrs. MURRAY. Madam President, I come to the Senate floor to once again urge my Republican colleagues to listen to the vast majority of the people across the country, do their job and allow us to do ours: fulfill our constitutional responsibilities, hold hearings for Judge Merrick Garland, and give him a vote.

We owe that to the people we represent. It is simply the right thing to do. Two months ago, the President did his job. He selected a nominee. For 2 months, Judge Garland has been ready and willing to meet with any Senator who will make the time. Yesterday Judge Garland did his job by submitting a questionnaire to the Senate Judiciary Committee outlining his background and his work history, which is standard for judicial nominees.

What about the Senate? In complete disregard of what so many Members continue to hear in their home States across the country, Republican leaders are refusing to act. Senate Republicans will not say they are opposed to Judge Garland. They are refusing to even live up to their constitutional responsibility and consider him. This kind of pure obstruction and partisanship is so wrong. People across the country are not going to stand for it. We are now at an unbelievable 88 days into this Supreme Court vacancy. Especially after knowing what I do after meeting with Judge Garland and what many Republicans know after meeting with him as well, his distinguished career and work history show that he is, without a doubt, someone who deserves fair consideration by all of us in the Senate.

Judge Garland led a massive investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing and supervised the prosecution of Timothy McVeigh. He called his work for the Justice Department, following the Oklahoma City bombing, the most important thing he has ever done in his life.

His fairness and diligence earned him praise from Members of both parties, from victims' families, law enforcement officers, and even from the lead lawyer who was defending McVeigh. As a prosecutor, he ensured proper respect for the rights of criminal defendants.

He was confirmed to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals in 1997 with a strong bipartisan vote of 76 to 23. Several of those who confirmed him in 1997 still serve in the Senate today. Clearly this is less about Judge Garland as a nominee and more about political obstruction and partisanship, especially after one Republican Senator admitted that if it looks as if Donald Trump will lose the November election, we should quickly confirm Judge Garland. This comes after weeks of saying the Senate should not do its job until we have a new President.

Evaluating and confirming Supreme Court Justices is one of the most important roles we have in the Senate. I have heard from people all over my State of Washington who want the Senate to do its job.

If Republicans continue to refuse to do their jobs, they aren't saying the people should decide; they are saying they believe the Republican Presidential nominee should. That is just wrong, especially after we heard from the presumptive Republican nominee last night on FOX News.

Recently, he said that he thinks women should be punished for exercising their constitutionally protected reproductive rights.

Last night he went a step further. He would only appoint ``pro-life'' Justices who would overturn Roe v. Wade. Let me repeat that. The candidate Republicans would like to see in the White House nominating Supreme Court Justices has committed to taking our country back to the Dark Ages.

That is appalling, and it is something I know millions of men and women across the country are scared of. It is just one more reason that people will continue demanding that Senate Republicans do their jobs now.

Washington State families should have a voice right now. Families across America should have a voice right now. The tea party gridlock and dysfunction that has dominated too much of our time and work in Congress should be pushed aside right now.

I hope Republicans will reconsider. I hope they will meet with Judge Garland, hold a hearing, and give him a vote. We need nine Justices serving on the highest Court in the land.

The American people deserve a fully functioning Supreme Court.

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