the administration proposes only a small increase in the cap from the Crime Victims Fund, and it would zero out the Federal Victim Notification System.

I expect the nominees will fully answer my questions.

the Senate will confirm two more of the President's judicial nominees. Both of these nominees are for seats termed ``judicial emergencies.'' My Republican colleagues and I continue to demonstrate our cooperation. We have worked with the…

You have no experience in the Federal court. What experience do you have that qualifies you for a Federal judgeship?

environmental racism is just another symptom of general racism. We are not going to get environmental justice in this country until we get full social and economic justice.

I think we need to have those provisions reauthorized for a substantial period of time in order to give stability and clarity to our agents in the field who need those tools quite essentially.

Too often, nominees appear before us and fail to give meaningful responses.

That type of response, which sounds coached, even robotic at times, doesn't really get us very far.

I extend my welcome to the nominees appearing before us today.

by any fair measure we are moving nominees at a brisk pace.

I congratulate you on that.

I think whistleblowers can play a very important role and do play a very important role.

But let me do my job, because we want to make sure that people that interpret the law as opposed to make the law get on our courts.

Congressman Clay urged the President to withdraw your nomination based on Judge Ross' judicial activism, history of racial and gender discrimination.

I tried to advocate for positions that I felt struck an appropriate balance between providing treatment for people in the criminal justice system that needed treatment, but also making sure that it was done in a way that did not jeopardize…

I felt that on those types of cases, prosecutors shouldn't be cut out of the equation.

Everything that has been on this subject has been said, but I have not said it and, by golly, I am going to say it.

I think you and I agree on this subject, so I do not know whether I need to speak or not.

I ask unanimous consent that I may speak for 15 minutes. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

usually by this time on a Friday, or even a little earlier, I have had the pleasure of going back to Iowa on the weekend. I would much rather be doing that. Obviously, we have problems that have to be worked out, and there is reason for…

before I speak, is there a time limit in morning business? The PRESIDING OFFICER. Ten minutes.

in March, I introduced S. 454, the Strengthening Program Integrity and Accountability in Health Care Act, to enhance the government's ability to combat Medicare and Medicaid fraud. One of the provisions in that bill would require the…

I would like to briefly explain my vote in favor of amendment No. 273, offered by Senator Coburn. The amendment seeks to save at least $5 billion by consolidating duplicative and overlapping government programs. I wholeheartedly support…

Both witnesses agreed that technology has changed significantly since the law was passed in 1986, but neither witness offered proposals.

Would not a change like this increase burdens on investigators, prosecutors, and the courts?