On the recordApril 4, 2017
As I recall, there was a moment in 1988, in the last year of President Reagan's Presidency, when there was a vacancy on the Supreme Court. This Republican President was in his last year--his so- called lameduck year, as many Republicans have now characterized it. At that time, the Senate was in the control of the Democratic Party. Of course, the Senate Judiciary Committee, I believe, was chaired by Joe Biden at that time in 1988. President Reagan sent the name ``Anthony Kennedy'' to the Senate to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court and the Democratic Senate held a hearing and a vote and sent Anthony Kennedy to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, where he continues to serve. So those who argue on the other side that everybody is doing it, that ``you would do the same thing, if you could'' and that sort of thing, I believe that is belied by the history--the recent history--when the Democrats were in the majority in this Chamber. So the Senator from Oregon is saying that this is not the only time in history this has occurred, and Senator McConnell ignored this and decided not to even have a hearing or vote on Merrick Garland-- something that has never been done in the history of the Senate, which brings us to this moment. Is that the point the Senator is making?
