In fact, we not only could, we should. We should accept that responsibility. We do have this Government which has three coequal branches. If the executive branch and Secretary Thompson refuses to use the authority he has under the law…

Suffolk County in Long Island banned the sale of ephedra products because the Suffolk County Department of Health Services determined that "dietary supplements containing ephedra alkaloid are too dangerous to be sold within the county of…

Since the days of Teddy Roosevelt, Forest Service responsibility has been to manage the forests on behalf of all Americans, not to make sure the lumber mills grind out as many board feet as the world wants to buy. It seems from what I can…

The District of Columbia is a city which is governed by a mayor, a city council, and 535 wannabe mayors in the Congress. It seems that every Member of the House or Senate who wanted to be a mayor at some time in their lives decided at some…

The Senator suggested it was fair for two Republican Senators from Texas to block a man like Enrique Moreno from even having a hearing because that was their right.

The question is coming. Is it not the right of Senators to raise questions on the floor about Miguel Estrada? Why is that unfair while the treatment of Enrique Moreno was fair? He did not even have a hearing. Miguel Estrada had a hearing…

I ask the Chair to address the Senator from Utah as to how it is any different to have Enrique Moreno, with a well-qualified rating from the American Bar Association, nominated to the Federal judiciary, refused a hearing before then…

Pursuing the same question, can the Senator ever recall a Hispanic nominee suggested by President Clinton, when he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hispanic nominee for the Federal judiciary who received a well-qualified…

I ask this question in relation to Richard Paez, and I will not go to the question of the cloture vote necessary to bring him to the floor, but I ask the then-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee if it was fair to Richard Paez…

In the case of Richard Paez, a Hispanic nominee who waited over 4 years for a vote, was there ever a time when Richard Paez refused to answer questions you posed to him?

Was he evasive to you or did he try to in any way conceal his true background and true record? Was there ever an instance of that?

the Senator is probably preeminent in this Chamber in his knowledge of history, and he certainly knows the history leading up to World War II when a Member of the House of Commons by the name of Winston Churchill took to the floor week…

I am happy the Senator has taken the floor today. We have spent most of our time discussing other matters. But this is a critically important matter in West Virginia and Illinois. I ask the Senator, as a matter of record, if he would…

It is instructive that this Hispanic nominee to such a high court is opposed by the Hispanic caucus. They have sat down with Mr. Estrada in private and asked him questions about his views on issues, and they have come out in opposition to…

At this point, the vast majority of those serving of Hispanic origin are Democrats.

Let me read my question: You and I met privately before your hearing-- I addressed this to Miguel Estrada-- and I asked you for your views on Roe v. Wade. You indicated you considered the answer to that question to be a private matter, but…

I cannot quite understand how we could get so many different versions of answers from this nominee. That is troubling to me. It concerns me. And I think it raises the question of whether or not he was coached in terms of avoiding or trying…

Four years. And there was never any question raised about his qualifications or answers to questions.

Absolutely. I might say to the Senator from Nevada, the Senator from Utah, in a speech to the Utah Federalist Society, said when you have a nominee like Miguel Estrada with no published opinions, then you have to really ask questions. Get…

This isn't what I am referring to. These are written questions which were sent to him. I just read his answer. It was curious to me, I say to the Senator from Utah, when he was given an opportunity to say just that, he did not. He did not.

Does the Senator recall a speech he made to the Federalist Society? I will quote from his statement there: [M]any of President Clinton's nominees tend to have limited paper trails. Determining which of the President's nominees will become…

I said, if you check the record, that the Hispanic caucus has come out in opposition.

Is it the Senator's position we should not ask a question of a nominee in any area of law that might come up in any case a judge would rule on?

Can the Senator point to any question asked of Miguel Estrada by either a Democratic or Republican Senator as to how he would rule in a particular case during the course of the confirmation hearing? Did any Senator violate the standard…

I ask the Senator one last question: Can he point to any question asked by any Senator that went beyond general law and asked Miguel Estrada how he would rule on a particular case?