>> >> who'd just wanted the famous'' that their cat brought the dead mouse to the president's door. more than two months after nominated approved by the full senate today to become the next associate justice and the u.s. supreme court he will replace justice scalia who died february of last year the final vote was 54 / 45 with only three democrats to vote in favor

of the nomination. we will show you all of this session leading up to the final confirmation vote. one over 15 minutes spanish the senate will come to order the chaplain will lead the senate in prayer. >>. >> let us pray. lord god of post be with us yet leslie forget that our work on capitol hill matters to your kingdom. with the military responseinded against syria we are reminded eternal vigilance

is the price for freedom continue to provide our lawmakers with opportunities to serve your purposes on earth with the responsibility entrusted to them with the stewardship of the legislative branch. to remind them that they know the pressures in must confront and to bestow upon them the blessing of your presence that will guard their hearts with your piece ward give them the confidence that following c

you make can be certain of goldman triumph. we pray in your holy name. amen. >> please join me with the of pledge of allegiance. >> i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america. and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all. >> [inaudible conversations]

bob. >> madam president. last evening the vice president notified me of the president's decision to respond to the syrian regime use of chemical weapons against his own people through military action. the action was taken topons deter the aside receive from using chemical weapons again. support the action and the objection the planning was will considered it was taken against the airfield from which the aircraft was launched in the attack. where chemical weapons were stored and taken against assets important to the regime and defense systems and shelters and then committed to working with the administration to develop a counter strategy

that hastens the defeat to deal with the assad regime to preserve the institutions of government the gratitude goes out to the most capable military which in the spanrl of just hours presented options and capabilities of plans and then executed a difficult mission. of indication by this service members it is an action of consequence and a clear signal back at assad can no longer use chemical weapons against his own people with impunity you have a briefing on this matter later today will asa was a consequential a

decision for the senate restored to the body the first upset in 20 '03 by using the tool the first employed in 2013 as a result will move to the confirmation of judge gorsuch shortly he will makehe an incredible addition to the court and make the american people proud. one after all the things about this matter beyond dispute with credentials and an excellent record in the ideal judicial temperament independence and a reputation for fairnessgeneral across the of political spectrum. obama is acting solicitor general said he was one of

the most brilliant to serve over last peasantry also a brilliant terrific guy who would do his course work with obsession. the appointees of clinton said he is superbly well qualified impaired to service the associate justice, no dispute about that. president carter's judge said i am not sure rica expect better than judge gorsuch order anybody presently exist meaning that nobody is better. of course, we all know what long time democrat from the society said the senate should confirm him there is no principled reason to vote no. miseries and he enjoys the

support of the bipartisan majority of the senate. there's a reason the bipartisan majority stands ready to confirm him today. cho co is an exceptional twice and i am very much looking i forward to confirming him today of course, aware several other aspects of this that played out differently it did not have to be this way but today is a new day behove my democratic friends will take this moment to reflect and consider a turning point of the outlook going forward the senate has a number of reports and issues to consider in the coming months. each member if year she chooses can play a critical part in the process. i would urge the of colleagues to consider the role that they can play what we can achieve in years past

including numerous bipartisan accomplishmentse the last chorus because the senate does more than confirm supreme court nominees although i am looking forward to confirming this one.dership >> the leadership time is reserved morning businesses closed the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the gorsuch nomination. the clerk will report supreme. >> neil gorsuch to be an associate justice. >> there will now be two hours of debate equally divided. >> i suggest the absence of a quorum. >> madam president person

addressed the nomination of judge gorsuch that will proceed to a final vote over the objections of democrats even though they have principled reasons to oppose the judge and reoffered many times to meet with the majority to speak - - to have a new nominee decided to change the threshold they had many options but they chose the nuclear option. place a believe it will make the board -- this body more partisan unmake the senate's hotter and the supreme court more partisan and as a result america is faith of the integrity of the court and the trust of the basic impartiality of the law will suffer those are serious things prior to yesterday's

cloture vote i shared my views and i will let those common stand in the recordt progress i have said repeatedly over the last weekend 1/2 lettuce go no further down this road for our hope the republican leader and itn find a way to build a fire wall around the filibuster and is the most important distinctiones between the senate and the house without that threshold the senate becomes an institution like the house much more subject to the short-term electoral change the senate would like to see this happen because further protect the 60 vote rule. madam president since he will soon become the ninth justice i hope judge gorsuch as listen to our debatet

particularly about our concerns of the supreme court increasingly drifting boards a more corporate court to favor employers and corporations and special interest overworking americans. there is an anchor in the land because average people are not getting a fair shake, t compared to the powerful and in many cases the supreme court is a last resort for everyday americans going against force is much larger than themselves as folks are struggling to stay in the middle class or to get into the middle-class we needed justice of the court will help swing a bat in the direction of the people's weep are charging toward -- judge gorsuch if he is the justice

for the federalist society and the heritage foundation that will spell trouble for america. finally madam president on syria i salute the professionalism and skill of our armed forces who took action last night. people of syria have suffered untold force of the hands of assad and making sure that he knows when he commit such a despicable atrocity he will pay a price is the right thing to do. it is now incumbent on the trump administration to come up with a coherent strategy and consult with congress of a high-yield the floor and note the absence of a s quorum.mr. blunt: pdf. >> suspend the quorum.

>> i want to talk about what we're doing today how well as important as unique in the history of congress 1789, since 178-9112 people have served on the supreme court it is hard not to be reminded today as the vote for the replacement for justice scalia said he served on the court 26 yearsho after ronald reagan left the white house and 13 years after president reagan dyed so clearly the impact of a supreme court appointment or nomination for the president or confirmation for senate to is one of the things to have a potential to last long beyond the service of those in the senate or beyond the president at the time. is a significant decision.

been a federal appointment generally that almost all of us look at the judicial appointments differently than cabinet appointments i this is the appointment will last as long as they're able to survey of 49 years old judge gorsuch who has already been adjudged 10 years who already knows if he likes being a judge or not we would hope you have a long and healthy life to use his skills on the court a think those skills were very obvious with the 2000 decisions he has been a part of as a circuit judge the

appeals judge above the other federal judges right below the supreme court so somebody who comes to thisst job understanding the job with a significant body of work the senate has had plenty of time to look atnation before this nomination was made with those 800 opinions he has been overturned of what he will sit on the united states supreme court exactly one time that is an average incredible decision making one set of a hundred times is the only time the court of appeals, the supreme court decides your decision did not meet their few. that does not mean they did not meet your view of the law or the constitution of course, both of those after

today his view of the law or how you apply the law will go to the court with him. at the white house event his when his nomination was announced he said a good judge is not always happy with their opinions.ou what does that mean? his job as a judge is to read the law and looked at the constitution to determine how the facts of the case or the reality of the law.ntry t what makes this a great country to live in and working in this the one thing to rely on is the rule of law when good lawyers all understand it to mean the same thing to move forward

with whatever decision you make so he said personal opinions are not only satisfied but also reflex is what the law was intended to mean at the time and there are ways to change the law our but that is our job not the job of any federal judge including the supreme court their job is to determine what the law was intended to mean when it was written with the constitution was intended to mean everything the constitution intended is not what we want to live with today and that is why we have a long list of amendments starting with the of bill of rights we have to

add things that is applied but that is not the job of the court. that is the job of congress to veto to send the allies back in the court's job is what judge gorsuch understands it to be and said i have one client and it is the law. blood either party appearing before the court it is not the government but the law. pol he also said judges are not politicians in robes. we have a job to do different than the court and as recent judge gorsuch to

the court today to be thehe 113th person in the history of the country to serve on the court we send a person that takes an understanding of what adjudge should do that when most americans think what the accord is supposed to do understand that is the job of the court to be done other places he will be aa great addition to the court is with his tenures of t experience and what great training he has had and of course, to get the job done t we had to return to the traditional standard that has always been the standard in the country for how presidential nominations are dealt with it is easy to

confuse the unique role of the senate to have barriers between vance legislation and basically since 1789 that has been applied to legislation as we want to be sure the minority is heard before we move forward with there was never a supermajority for presidential nominations for tourism possible to find before 1968 any case for the senate came together to say a we will decide we will not have a vote on this judge not every judge got a photo and they did the majority of the senators determine if the judge would go on the

court or not to members today did not get 60 votes tho clarence thomas, 52.ut two justice alito 58. nobody thought they needed 60 votes because that was never part of the structureve of our judges got to the courts so we have returned the senate budget practice of presidential nomineesrs that over 214 years was the way the nominees were always dealt with.013, the band in 2013 the senate controlled they decided every nomination available to them every judge there was a vacancy would be

determined by a simple majority.ink, sho from that moment:everybodyev should not have been surprised when you eventually have a supremet court vacancy and this is the first since that happened whoever was in charge would extend the same majority to the supreme court. so now all presidential nominees are back with a word over the last 214 years.er -- talk mr. schumer talks about the importance to recommit ourselves for projections for the minority to pass legislation. i think we can do that. frankly i think this exercise to refresh ouray minds how legislation has

always better handled in that way is probably creating a greater commitment to the legislative super majority to move forward with the and we have had for a while our friends on the other side the c level said nobody is willing to back down on the challenges the senate faces when we are required to get things done even if a majority vote when it could take six years for every senator to run for election occ, after the direction it b occurs to say we really want to change the way the

country has run up and tell now? decisions are not necessarily the best in a democracy in this institution is what determines public coming together of the people that are here at the time to say you did not get it the first time.ant we're sending different people because they want to make this change. such as sen that 113th person to serve a lifetime term on the court i'm confident the president's nominee to send those good person to the court with an understanding with the

supreme court is supposed to be their job is not to determine what it should have said but determined what it says. judge gorsuch as well as any person who has appeared before the senate understands that principle will take it to the courtis and will work with his colleagues to rally around the law where freedom should be secure in the courts are there to determine what is right in any given case not with the judges think is right eyelid forward to the vote later this morning to see judge gorsuch sworn in as a member of the court some time in the very near future.uspended.

i notice the absence of a quorum. >> price supports the nomination to confirm judge gorsuch to the united states supreme court i do so with mixed emotions because i believe the action taken to achieve this position will have lasting effects the unfortunate on this body with a confirmation of future judges with the1 supreme court by 51 votes rather than go back to the history with the former majority leader reid did i am concerned about the

future with l.a. a 51 majority requirement leading to a polarization as far as the philosophies are concerned if the majority does not have to consider the concerns and the votes of the minority.omination , the unprecedented filibuster of the nomination to the united states supreme court and the senate's regrettable action to invokeke the nuclear option and have been remiss not to describe why i support stronglyrming jude confirming judge gorsuch to serve as an associate justice of the united states supreme court berger rarely has this body seen someone so well qualified and so

skilled was such a commandord of jurisprudence with the established record of independence in judicial temperament that exactly for these very reasons this body nanas the voted in 2006 to confirm the very same judge othr to the u.s. court of appeal to the tenth circuit now they have them believe this very same judges outside the mainstream and is therefore unacceptable to serve in the nation's highest court even by the standards of this body this is breathtaking so we will reach count why judge gorsuch is a deservingt, e for this nomination. juris he is a world-class tourist a u.s. appellate court judge

gorsuch has maintained the lowest rate of the other judges dissenting from his opinion. only 1.5% of his majority opinions were accompanied by dissent but the supreme court has never overruled any of his opinions. not a single one of the as 2700 cases he participated 97% were decided unanimously and george -- judge gorsuch was then the of majority 99 percent of the time and then to overrule the opinion where judge gorsuch sat on the panel wants was serving he built an exceptional reputation for his fair

minded and sharp intellectford standard president sat with him on the tenth circuit characterized him as an independent thinker and one of the best writers in the judiciary today but not to side with one in reject the heather and judge gorsuch is one of the most best professional backgrounds the body has ever seen graduating from columbia and harvard law school and also obtained a doctorate degree in philosophy from oxford university and was a commercial scholar clerking the the u.s. court and supreme court justice white and kennedy.y deal also served as principal deputy assistant

at the department of justice before serving as u.s. circuit court of appeals for the tenth circuit. gorsuch has for all of these achievements judge gorsuch has achieved the highest possible reading -- reading the gold standard for evaluating judicial nominations has established a dozen exceptional moneyy and his appearance before the senate judiciary committee was extraordinaryad with the three rounds of questioning each member had the opportunity to quiz over one hour each on every aspect of constitutional law to insert 1,200 questions from the panel had flawless mastery over his field and his nomination was exemplarypar.

with his transparency with the response to the judiciary request he provided over 70 pages ofl written answers of his personal record in 75,000, pages of documents includingng speeches in case priests and opinions which makes you wonder why he wanted the job with the white house archives the darkness of justice produce 100,000 pages are 180,000 occasions related to his time at the doj the department of justice provided access to reams of documents orderlies objecting claims of privilege but in the spirit of cooperation the department of justice t provided my friends on the other side access anyway democ

with almost 300 separate questions providing another 70 pages within one week to give my friend sufficient time to review the answerserythg before the nomination despite that my friends have american people believe that judge gorsuch is not part of the mainstream with a judicial philosophy but if you do that then you lose credibility. for all of those reasons that is not true they could question him over those 20 hours they would ask him for his personal opinion on

issues that could come before him if confirmed to the court in addition they passed hypothetical set for those provincial reasonsnswer. they could not be expected to answer in this history talk. the real reason why most of my friends on the other side opposed his confirmation is president trump nominated him because the related special interest have been upset since his election in november and the fact is of most of my colleagues or my friends from the other side of the aisle are opposed to the nominee they would oppose any nominee put forward the record is clear that his qualifications knowledge and skill in

temperament are exceptional for these reasons he has turned my support for his nation's highest court gabelli to make one additional comment late friend from utah is waiting. when president obamacare presidents before him were elected from both parties it is standard procedure in the united states senate to give the incoming president the benefit of the doubt that the american people by elected president of united states endorses responsibility in his right to nominate the judges to the court in short of a given because the american people spoke pdf taking into consideration those responsibilities the president would have so

therefore i voted for most of obama as nominees even president clinton. but now we're in a position a where we are so polarized even with a man of the qualifications of judge gorsuch is now opposed by our friends on the other side of the ideal.ends vice eight to my friends on both sides that is not the brave the senate was designed to work was designed to communicate and work together to understand results in repercussions and it is about time we sat down together to do things for the american people in bipartisan fashion and the hysterical opposition lacy on the other side does not bode well.

we know what we need to do. pdf recognize the presence of the distinguished senator from utah. >> i appreciate my colleague from arizona one of the great senators premier will listen to him especially on foreign policy and others as well and people should listen to what he is saying with regards to the judgeship i have great regard for senator mccainn and always will with a truly great senators of this body and wish my colleagues on the and decide would pay attention to what he passed to say today. o madam president i rise today in strong support of the 24

secretary of the airforce i had the privilege of knowing dr. wilson person she wouldou distinguish herself as a member of the houses intelligence committee and b my interactions with her became apparent she is a person of great intellect and character and is always achieve a level of excellence dr. wilson is m success from an early age making history as one of the first female graduates of the air force academy where she thrived as a student she getting a rhodes scholarship to attend oxford dealing in international relations the book titled international law and use of force as a lawyer i was impressed with the analysis of international law all the

more impressive the book was published issue was serving to the national security council with a commitment to national security was evidence serving in the house of representativesf when she left the house after more than a decade of service then she became the president of the science of school and technology showing extraordinary skill and she is a person of great intellect and strong management skills and support lived character per or believe she will be an outstanding senator that is why i encourage mccauleys' to confirm her without delay confirming dr. wilson is

necessary to address the challenges facing our military after all their fundamental issues especially day airforce with a lack of proper investment in training is evident then concerned of the airforcef because of the responsibilities. there are too few aircraft, too few personal including pilots, and regarding the shortage of aircraft that the chief of staff recently testifiedircraft last and 50% of the aircraft is ranked to perform all the combat missions they are

assigned the average aircraft age is 27 years old ninny have decades of wear and tear many will be retained for the foreseeable future the current number of the squadron's fell short of what was needed to perform the work requirements as testified during her confirmation hearing here force is not fully right -- fully ready such as china or russia to refute aircraft of course, the number is the multiple issues facing year forced we have to few personnel including pilots they cannot fly without experience we need 3400 more

we're running short of those men and women the senior force officers testified there is a deficit of 1,555 pilots and require more than 750 additional fighter pilots there is concern the pilots that remain are receiving very few training hours these are enormous challenges but despite theev task given front of us to develop those strategies required i hope the senate will speed the confirmation

on years seven the subject of very concerned the way neil gorsuch has been treated. and there cannot have been more ready and more knowledgeable person or in the blacksburg daniel gorsuch for this colleague on the supreme court is amazing how those who have ignored all of the evidence and experience and goodness of this man many will votee against him if you cannot support judge gorsuch who

can you support crooks those who could really do the bidding and judge gorsuch is the type of the person with that type of experience he is the terrific human being a courier disagree to say he makes a law of good pointsebodyi and then you walk away to say i like that guy he is somebody i can work with them loves his country and sets that exemplary example in every way.ve

number of people the are put on the court none of the knicks' 89. and it bipartisan way and support this election.mp's and this was early in his reign that he may very well could have even for nominations to the court and i don't blame my colleagues for being concerned and then put people on the court with him they agreed baton the other day and he will put people on the court to provide greater experiencee

and bring great distinction to the court without telling us how they would vote do the job that we all count on. live had great democratic and republican justices. until no one knows how great until the nominee serves on the court as a member of the united states supreme court. we have every confidence will be one of the all-time great justices for the court to deserve confirmation if

you weren't in such a move around here for us so many problems with each other to be an easy person to support the help they can put our politics decided let it his experience and ability ingenious would get his colleagues and 99 percent of the cases. most of those for democrats.ust what are we about? peseta and exercise every time we have a nomination? behalf to a mitt it looks like hillary clinton would win.

senator mcconnell decided we should wait do to the presidential election it is a good decision and it looked as though hillary clinton would win and she might very well put them more liberal justice on the court then judge garland. this senator mcconnell knew the odds were against the republicans put the last s election but it was miraculous for donald trump to win but not to me because he called me and asked me to support him for vice said he and don't want to be. i am the kiss of death. he laughed and i said

supported jeb bush and is supported marco rubio. he said i want you anyway. so i wanted to senators who supported the now president of the united states. and was gratified to see him win the election.ha i thought he could indeed down menu there was a chance because i found that people are not willing to say who they were for. i knew darn well they were for trump they just did not want to admit it especially democrats if he got an overwhelming number of blue caller democrats i alerted trade as a young man.im. i and understand them.

i was born not with a wealth of colleagues but with some people today would call poverty for call my parents were decent and honorable but before in monetary value. and i was blessed to have been raised by the embargoo -- by them. but to go against the nominee life ain't it is a disgrace.e with years and years

everybody has that right. wish we were more together with the democratic colleagues in the republican. colleagues with the differences we do a law of good things for this country and i suggest the absence of a quorum.tack >> mentioning that a horrific chemical attack this week was nothing short of evil and i stand shoulder

to shoulder condemning this brutality.ne, a macy assad crossing a line drawn then ignored by the obama administration and then continuing crimesai against humanity under russian protection. to respond quickly and proportionately. our and then to set the clear message to assad and the allies and that was not missed by the leaders of the iranian government, russian federation, and north korea. and then to enable assad with international actions.

>> and to displace the refugees in this standing ready to work with theo administration the with greater stability and on another subject to start the vote on judge gorsuch is theha next supreme court justice. , led only as a judge but as a man.o did with incredible integrity and then served as the circuit judge tenures known for his sharp intellect brilliant writingaw

in faithful interpretation of the constitution passed by congress. aho and the distinguished jurist in his professional experience about the years practicing in a private law firm unleaded to separate it justices simply hit is undeniable with a high caliber and on the need for i have no doubt to serve the nation will from the supportha --- supreme court. so that unprecedented attacker the first-ever live chickens

the supreme court nominee we're led to prevent that of or down vote is certainly was then because of the judge a because so many across the aisle have not gotten over the fact donald trump won the presidential election and hillary clinton did not. our colleagues said they need the mainstream nominee after renominated the mainstream nominee they're looking for other ways to be an extremist or radical but they failed because there's no evidence to justify those characterizations but this

judicial experts spanning the spectrum including the obama solicitor general said they had to deal with the facts he was involved in thousands of decisions, 2700 the vast majority made by a least three judges or more b 97 percent were unanimous. you'd have to slander the reputation of all the judges to claim he is out of the mainstream extremist. that is truly an impressive record for a judge in a multi jed court -- multi judge court and then attempted across the aisle

to paint him as an extremist or a radical. fifty-nine does not fit the bill for qualified mainstream nominee than is there any nominee from this president or any that will be the democrats are return standard? time and time again they will make an argument against this nominee but instead they're determined v to block him that broadest to the cloture vote yesterday in the last ditch effort to block judge gorsuch they did not want to give him the upper down voteion instead they wanted to kill the nomination by refusing the upper down vote with the nation's entire history only

for a cloture votes for the supreme court nominees. only for none were cast as a partisan filibuster until yesterday. cheered on by the extreme b groups on the left and with the recent tradition when it comes to the judicial nominees. . .

instead of what the constitution requires which is a majority vote. no one would have ever dreamed that the constitution would have allowed for a 60 vote requirement rather than an up or down vote. it is not that our friends across the aisle truly oppose judge gorsuch. the fact is they oppose president trump. that's what this is all about. but this boat is not actually about president trump. it is about the man we've all learned so much about. who has a great record of faithfully interpreting the law. a man who has proven himself to possess an independent judicial mind. who follows the law wherever it may lead. and someone who has one bipartisan approval.

this is about delivering i promise. republicans promise to let the american people, let their voice be heard and who they choose as president to select the new supreme court justice for the american people did that. they've chose president trump. he chose judge gorsuch. if hillary clinton had been elected president today, i have no doubt that her choice for the supreme court would be confirmed by a majority vote. in the same united states senate. notice how we deliver on the promise that we made to the american people and confirm neil gorsuch to the supreme court. madam president. >> i had not planned to speak his money but my friend in texas decided to give his version of history at that well, maybe i ought to have my version.it is slightly different. justice antonin scalia passed

away in february of last year. president barack obama, president of the united states of america had a constitutional responsibility under article 2 section 2 to nominate a person to fill the vacancy on the supreme court as every other president had. and he did. he came up with the name merrick garland. the chief judge on the d.c. circuit court of appeals. a man who was widely respected. unanimously well mollified by the american bar association. president obama submitted his name to this congress. to the senate. a senate which is with a republican majority and a leader, senator mitch mcconnell of kentucky. senator mcconnell and republican senators did something that had never happened in the history of this chamber. not once, they denied president obama's nominee, the opportunity for a hearing and a vote.

in fact, senator mcconnell went further and said i will not even meet with the man. it had never happened before. and you say to yourself well, come on, this is in washington. this is major-league politics. this sort of thing must happen all the time. never! in fact, if you go back not that far into history in 1988 in the last year of president ronald reagan's presidency, there was a vacancy in the supreme court. ronald reagan sent the name anthony kennedy to a democratic controlled senate. which had the power to do the same thing that senator mcconnell did. deny hearing and deny a book. what did the democrats do? they gave justice kennedy a hearing, a boat and sent him to fill the vacancy in the supreme court. the republicans under senator mcconnell refused merrick garland the same opportunity and they said to president

obama, you are in your fourth year. you are lame-duck. your choice for the supreme court really does not count. but there was more to it. the strategy was based on the premise and possibility that a republican would be elected in this last november election. and if so, the republican president to fill the vacancy on the supreme court. that is exactly what happened. election of donald trump gave him the opportunity to fill the vacancy of antonin scalia. a vacancy which should have been filled i believe by merrick carlton, president obama's nominee. that is what led up to the boat yesterday. but there was more. where the name neil gorsuch come from? is true, he served on the 10th circuit for 10 years. he had been approved by the united states senate. he certainly had a strong -- book had to get on the finalist list? most of the time you never know. presidents do not always

disclose how they come up with names. but in this case, it was very open. because during the course of the campaign, donald trump, the candidate, listed 21 names of people that he would appoint to the supreme court. on that list of names, neil gorsuch of colorado. how did that name make the list? we do know because donald trump told us. -- very conservative groups and they were going to pick the nominees that were approved by them and submit them to donald trump, which he then publicized. we know that because at the end of the day donald trump thanked them for nominating good courses. that's his name came to us. now, essentially hearings and i will tell you, most of the supreme court nominee did not go out of their way to

volunteer information. they tried to be respectful but they do not try to say much of anything. they do not want to get in trouble. either as judges -- so they had questions raised about him. but i do not want to dwell in him as much as i want to draw the process. what happened yesterday it was unfortunate. the last four justices on the supreme court to nominated by president obama, sotomayor, kagan and to nominated by george w. bush, roberts as well as -- all received 60 votes during the course of their consideration. that is not what the senator from texas eluded. but it was written until yesterday, you need 60 votes to overcome the possibility of a filibuster. that role has changed yesterday

to a majority. that is an unfortunate occurrence. a lifetime appointment in the highest court of the land. historically, with very few exceptions that has been the case. that is not the case here. we found yesterday changing the rules which was under the power of the majority to do.a change in the rules which lowered the standard for this judge for the first time officially to a majority vote. he received and that's what brings his nomination to the floor today to be considered. for the supreme court. at the end of yesterday's session when the rule was changed, some senators were engaged in high-fives on the other side of the aisle i am not sure why. i don't think it was time for any willing celebration. i think it was an unfortunate moment.the question is where

would we go from here. we know the outcome of that would be on judge gorsuch this afternoon. it was preordained by the rule struggle we went through yesterday. but where does the senate go? where should we go? but we hope we can restore the 50 vote margin when it comes to the supreme court nominees. it may mean that judge gorsuch has an asterisk by his name. it is the only want to be officially approved with a majority vote. but i am hoping even if he isn't on the supreme court i know will not hold him back from serving the nation well. that is exactly what he wants to do. they hope that the senate would restore the standard of 60 votes necessary for the supreme court. i really believe that this is an extraordinary opportunity for a person to serve this nation and extraordinary responsibility and you should taken very seriously. it should not be able majority decision.

it should be a 60 vote majority and i hope we get back that sin. and hope that they will not be derailed having this so early in the session. this is the great institution and it is a big part of my lip and i look forward to serving more innocent. not as long as a senator from iowa. -- i do believe that this is a great institution, an example is a senator from iowa opposite political faith. he and i worked together on some important issues in the past and we want to work together in future.i think we can and if we can, and restore what you and i remember as the glory days is in the best interest of the nation. beyond the supreme court nomination let's hope that we can all come together to make that happen. i see my colleagues filing and in another anxious many of them to vote. i'm not going to hold the chamber.

i'm just going to say that i think the presiding officer and my friend and i look forward to the vote. i yield the floor. >> senator from iowa. >> we are about to votes.on the nomination of judge gorsuch. i want to say to my colleagues i am so pleased that we will send the referring to him as justice gorsuch. i opened our judiciary hearing with this. as justice scalia said, it is quote - the proud boast of our democracy that we have a government of law without a secure structure of separated powers our bill of rights would be worthless. and of scalia's quote. the separation of powers in our constitution was the guardian of our liberty judge gorsuch understands that.

his deep understanding of the separation of powers enlivens his opinions. by fully enforcing the boundaries among the branches of government and the power of the government in our lives. this justice will ensure that the law protects our liberties. here is the other thing that is important but a judge who respects the separation of powers. we know that he will be independent. he told us that he is his own man. that no person speaks for him. he is not beholding to the president who appointed him. and testimony shows that he is not beholding to us in the congress either. he would not compromise his independence to win confirmation votes.he passed

the test this is a man of integrity. and this is exceptional. you know the story. columbia university bachelors. harvard law school, doctorate. oxford university, partnership at a prestigious law firm. and high-level justice department service for the people of our country. but most importantly. a decade-long record of faithfully applying the law on the federal bench on 2700 cases on the 10th circuit court of appeals limits dumb up this way. this brilliant honest humble man is a judges judge. and he will make a superb justice. i yield the floor. >> mr. president.

>> majority leader. >>. [inaudible] >> without objection time is yielded back. the question occurs in the confirmation of neil gorsuch of colorado to be an associate justice of the supreme court of the united states. is there a sufficient second? there is. the clerk will call the role. >> shortly there after the senate went on to confirm neil gorsuch. senators joe donnelly, heidi heitkamp and joe manchin iii were the only democrats to vote in favor of the nomination. along with every republican except senator isaacson who was

not present for the boat. our capitol hill producer craig kaplan points out the democratic senator michael bennet voted against the nomination despite introducing judge gorsuch at the confirmation hearing last month.his actions are similar to former senators brown, lautenberg and -- did so for other justices. after the vote, senate judiciary chair chuck -- spoke with reporters about the confirmation of judge neil gorsuch.he was also asked about the changing of the rules for supreme court nominees. this is 10 minutes. hi everyone.