John Cornyn: “Earlier today we had a cloture vote on the nomination of Jack McConnell to be a United States District Judge for Rhode…”

“Earlier today we had a cloture vote on the nomination of Jack McConnell to be a United States District Judge for Rhode Island, and 63 Senators voted to cut off debate and to move then to a final vote on confirmation which will occur, I am told, around 5:30, shortly. But first I wanted to come to the floor and expand a little bit on some of my earlier comments with regard to this nomination and why I am so strongly opposed to it just to make a few other comments. Thirty-three years ago I became a lawyer, a member of the legal profession. While I have heard as many lawyer jokes as a person can stand in a lifetime, I am actually proud of the legal profession. What attracted me to it was study of the law, the rule of law, and the majesty of law being made by elected representatives of the American people speaking for the American people themselves; a profession that observes a rule of ethics, that is not just who can get the most the fastest but one that actually requires lawyers to practice according to a standard of ethics.…”