On the recordJune 6, 2018
I rise to voice my enthusiastic support for the majority leader's announcement yesterday that we would be staying in Washington through August. Already we have seen media reports that our colleagues on the other side of the aisle are upset about having to work through August recess. As Leader McConnell said, this action would not have been necessary but for the historic obstruction by our Democratic colleagues who have used every available tool to delay confirmations of executive and judicial nominations. To put the scale of their obstruction into perspective, Senate Democrats have forced 101 procedural cloture votes on President Trump's nominees in his first 18 months. By comparison, the previous 6 Presidents combined saw a total of only 24 cloture votes in their first 2 years. In other words, Democrats have somehow managed to fit 40 years' worth of obstruction into just 18 months. Even more infuriating, after Democrats pretend to object to nominees by calling for cloture, many of them later vote in favor of confirmation, acknowledging that the nominees are qualified and worthy of the Senate's support. Take, for example, the case of Fernando Rodriguez Jr., a highly qualified nominee to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Fernando has spent the last few years serving in the International Justice Mission combating sex trafficking and human rights abuses.…
