Jon Kyl: “the first vote will be on the amendment which I have offered which solves the problem that has been described here…”

“the first vote will be on the amendment which I have offered which solves the problem that has been described here, unlike the underlying bill which does not solve the problem. The problem is that the U.S. Attorney General can appoint interim attorneys and the Senate doesn't have a chance to confirm them. My amendment repeals that section of the law; the underlying bill does not. So it is still possible in the future, under the underlying bill, for the Attorney General to appoint interim U.S. attorneys without Senate confirmation. If he doesn't do that, then a Federal district judge makes the appointment, again without the Senate having the ability to act on the nomination. Again, my amendment solves that problem by requiring the President to nominate a candidate for U.S. attorney and requiring the Senate to act on that nomination. Should the President not fulfill his responsibility, the requirements for the Senate to act are vitiated. So there is a powerful incentive for the President to nominate. The underlying bill reinstates the old law. The Senator from California has said the old system, which is the basis for her legislation, has worked well for 20 years. It hasn't worked well. The Senate has no ability to act on a nominee when there is no nominee. Under the existing law, the district court judge appoints the U.S. attorney. We have no ability to say yes or no to that individual.…”