Has the other side produced any evidence that, in the history of this nominee as a lawyer, he has produced any information or any information has been produced that shows that his principles or ideology are outside of the mainstream? Has…

Is there anything in Mr. Estrada's background that would give you the opinion he would be a judicial activist on the court?

Isn't the difference the Senator from New York suggested about your comment about Judge Barkett and the situation with Miguel Estrada that Judge Barkett had an extensive record to analyze and you concluded by that record there was judicial…

Further, I guess the question I have is, other than Mr. Bender's comment, which came well after the fact and does not comport with his contemporaneous reports--other than that one particular statement--of all the qualifications that are…

one of the issues I have heard raised by the other side is that the nominee has not had judicial experience. In fact, the chairman of the House Democratic Hispanic Caucus wrote a letter to the Judiciary Committee, I understand. I want to…

I stand here, as the Senator from Kentucky and the Senator from Utah, and ask the question, Why this nominee? The Senator may have--I hope he has not--may have uncovered what may be the underlying cause of this obstruction. We have passed…

I find that incongruous. I find, frankly, all of the arguments to be specious, at best. What is confounding is that such an extreme measure appears to be in the offing, which is a filibuster, on such a pathetically weak case against this…

That is correct, including, I believe, six other Solicitor Generals who have said it would threaten the viability of the Solicitor General's office if this information were discoverable through this nomination process.

I suggest it went further. We were accused, if we voted against any minority--they would single out any negative vote against any minority member--it was the equivalent of having some sort of antiracial agenda; that somehow we harbored ill…

I know when you try to bully someone into doing something and they don't do it, it can be pretty frustrating. But that is no reason to go to such an extreme unprecedented measure of filibustering an obviously competent…

Another point that is being made is these inspectors are not finding anything, and that there is this undercurrent of expectation that it is their role to be detected or investigated; that they are over there to find the proverbial needle…

It seems to me what Senator Kennedy put forward is what many in the press have put forward, which is really a change of expectations and putting up, I would argue, the straw man; that is, it is our obligation to show Saddam is not in…

I want to pick up where the Senator from Arizona left off. What has changed that would lead us to have another debate on a resolution authorizing force? Since the last time we debated this issue here on the Senate floor, I do not know if…

Yes. The term I use over and over again is that these are inspectors, not investigators. These are not detectives. This concept that inspectors will find a smoking gun is absurd. It is absurd. They will not because they are not looking for…

The fact of the matter is, nothing has changed from the inspections that occurred prior to the debate here in the Senate back in September. So I really question what the motivation is of having this debate again when, on a substantive…

I want to express support on behalf of The Charity Aid, Recovery and Empowerment, CARE, Act of 2003, which I am introducing today with Senator Lieberman, Finance Committee Chairman Grassley, Senator Bayh, Majority Leader Frist and other…

I want to make a point, too, that this is not a pension fund that has been underfunded for a long period of time. This isn't like a lot of the industries that have been in bad shape for years. I believe this pension fund is overfunded as…

I rise in support of the Specter amendment. I understand, just listening to the Senator from Arizona, that this is a complex issue and there are a lot of carriers involved in bankruptcies or financial distress. For this carrier timing is…

as a proud Pennsylvanian, I want to express my strong support for Governor Tom Ridge and to applaud the President for his nomination as the first Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security. Unfortunately, scheduling prevented me…

I have been rising to bring the Senate's attention to an issue which I think is very important. We have had a lot of discussion in this body about the concern for deficits. I share those concerns about how much money we are going to be…

we have heard a lot of talk on the floor in the last few weeks about the deficits we are facing and about the irrational conduct of the President proposing reductions in taxes. I want to point out the exercise we are engaged in right now…

The problem is, candidly, that this plan has to be filed by next Thursday, a week from today. So the PBGC says they do not have the legal authority to approve the US Airways plan. So the only way to get around that problem is for Congress…

my understanding is this unemployment extension mirrors the unemployment extension we did in the last session of Congress. We extended benefits for 13 weeks. There are some for which the 26 weeks plus the 13 weeks have expired. I assume…

I respond to the comments by the Senator from South Dakota by saying the Senator from Oklahoma laid out clearly why a vote and adoption of such an amendment would be devastating. It would be devastating for the million people we want to…

let me address the three amendments. With respect to the first amendment, I agree with the Senator from Michigan. That is something we should do. Even though I believe it is not germane to the package we have before us, it is certainly…