Heidi Alexander: “I thank the majority leader and the Republican leader, Senator McConnell, for the way they worked on this legislation.…”

“I thank the majority leader and the Republican leader, Senator McConnell, for the way they worked on this legislation. Not just on this bill, but when they were the respective whips of their parties several years ago, each of them working on trying to help improve the Senate's ability to do its oversight by doing a better job with our advice-and-consent responsibility. That is one of our better known responsibilities. It is a constitutional responsibility. It is in Article II, Section 2. But as a part of that advice-and-consent responsibility, the Senate has the opportunity to define which other positions the President may appoint. That is what this is about. Senator Collins and Senator Lieberman have also worked for many years, and they will be here in a few minutes to open the debate. Senator Schumer and I will come to the floor about at 2:40 and make our statements on behalf of the Rules Committee. I thank the majority leader and Republican leader for doing this because this is not the most glamorous piece of legislation. What I am about to say is not so glamorous either. But this bill has come to the floor by unanimous consent. That means there were 100 Members of this body who could have objected, and none have. I thank the Senators--many of whom have very different views on this bill--for agreeing to this agreement by which we are proceeding.…”