On the recordSeptember 7, 2016
I rise again to continue the plea to move forward when it comes to fulfilling the vacancies now pending in our courts. I don't know about the Constitution saying anything about a tit-for-tat--what one President got another should get--but to me the obligation of the Senate is clear, and that is, we have an obligation to do our job and to fill vacancies. During this Presidency, significantly more vacancies have come up because of retirements and other reasons. As we have already heard from the Senator from Massachusetts, not only are there double the vacancies, but the judicial emergencies being talked about now, which have nothing to do with party, are real. Around our country right now, there are many districts that are in crisis because of our failure to do our job. Relying on a tit-for-tat partisan understanding reflected nowhere in our Constitution is unacceptable when we are not supporting the proper functioning of the judiciary. We have nominations on the floor, ones that have passed out of the Judiciary Committee in a bipartisan fashion. One of those nominations-- to fill a vacancy in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey--is Julien Neals, who is a well-qualified nominee and who has had to wait for over 19 months on his nomination--19 months. On this list, he is the longest waiting judge.…
