Dianne Feinstein

Congress has to have the ability to legislate.

In the last decade, however, the court has changed its interpretation of the Commerce clause and struck down more than three dozen cases.

When I questioned now Chief Justice Roberts, I talked about how for 60 years the court did not strike down a single Federal law for exceeding Congressional power under the Commerce clause.

There are no exceptions from which the President can leave the four corners of this bill.

The Supreme Court itself in Ricci recognized that it was creating a new standard.

Does the Constitution authorize the President to not follow parts of laws duly passed by the Congress that he is willing to sign that he believes are an unconstitutional infringement on executive authority.

We have seen the executive branch push the boundaries of power claiming sweeping authority, to disregard acts of Congress.

That's one way to collect communications of Americans without warrants and to detain people indefinitely without due process.

I must say that if there is a test for judicial temperament, you pass it with an A++.

But once on the Court, the same nominees voted to overturn the key holding in Casey.

Bottom line, I believe your record indicates that you possess all of these qualities.

I want to congratulate you on your nomination, and I also want to start out with a couple of personal words.

Also, it showed me that Supreme Court Justices are much more than umpires calling balls and strikes.

Of course, these phrases obfuscate and prevent a clear understanding of where a nominee really stands.

I have worked for a number of years to try to mitigate the risks that I believe this program produces for our Nation.

Has there been any appreciable reduction in violence at the border since you began?

And I think the time has come for it to be done--the tracking, that is.

It is the soft underbelly of this country.

I want to just begin by thanking you for your attention to the border.

We cannot put out passports that are gained with fraudulent documents, ever.

My view is that no passport should be issued until these checks are complete.

State Department officials have known about these vulnerabilities for many years, but have failed to fully secure the process.

Now, the question arises: How many passports are out there that were wrongly issued and are being used by those seeking to do others harm?

The State Department did not identify the counterfeit birth certificates or the counterfeit driver's licenses.

The State Department failed to clear all four of these passports through the Social Security number clearance check--first mistake--which takes only 24 hours.