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Banned
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Senate debating for 30 hours straight...
This is from this Yahoo! article ... bit o' warning: it's a bit lengthy
Quote:
By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - With humor, anger and a show of GOP unity, the Senate on Wednesday launched 30 hours of uninterrupted debate on President Bush (news - web sites)'s political nominees not making it to the federal appeals bench, setting up cots and preparing to cast blame at each other throughout the night.
Most of Republicans marched into the Senate together just before 6 p.m., sat down and listened to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., open the debate by condemning the filibusters.
"Tonight we embark upon an extraordinary session," Frist said. "For the next 30 hours Republicans and Democrats will debate the merits of three judicial nominees. We will be considering the meaning of our constitutional responsibilities to advise and consent on nominations. We will discuss whether there is a need to enact filibuster reform so that nominations taken to the floor can get a vote."
Democrats, some appearing amused by the pomp and circumstance, were already in the Senate chamber waiting for the beginning of the debates. The Senate had just finished a vote, and many of the GOP senators had to leave the chamber just to be in the group marching back in.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, held a sign he displayed for television cameras and passing Republican senators as they entered the chamber: "I'll be home watching 'The Bachelor.'"
Another Democratic sign, a big purple sign with gold "168 to 4" written on it — the number of judicial nominees confirmed by the Senate as opposed to the number blocked by Democrats — upset Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. "That is clearly against the Senate rules," said Gregg, who had Democrats remove it until their turn to speak.
Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., and Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., condemned the Republicans from leaving an appropriations bill to launch the debate. "I'm sorry that we can't finish this bill," she said.
While most of the focus will be on the Senate floor, senators plan to buttress their cases by holding news conferences throughout the night condemning the opposing side for its tactics: Republicans on the Democratic filibusters, Democrats on the Republicans' "reverse filibuster."
Democrats have used the threat of a filibuster to block four U.S. Appeals Court nominees so far: Alabama Attorney General William Pryor, Texas judge Priscilla Owen, Mississippi judge Charles Pickering and lawyer Miguel Estrada. Others, including California judges Carolyn Kuhl and Janice Rogers Brown, are expected to be blocked by Democrats as well.
Frustrated at the delays, Estrada withdrew his nomination in September.
In turn, Republicans — who control the Senate — scheduled the 30-hour debate despite their effort to finish bills revamping Medicare and energy policy, plus eight overdue spending bills in time to adjourn by Nov. 21.
"We only wish they would devote the kind of attention they are to these 30 hours to the matters that the American people care most about," said Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D. "They care a lot about the fact that 3 million of them don't have jobs. They care a lot about the fact that their health insurance is rising by more than 15 percent a year."
But Republicans want to draw attention to the blockades, having failed multiple times to get the 60 votes to force the confirmations in a Senate split with 51 GOP senators, 48 Democrats and one independent.
"Through our actions tonight, Republicans hopefully will be able to focus more attention on this problem, which in turn might stimulate enough outrage by the American public to sway at least a few more Democratic senators to do the right thing and give these nominees a vote," said Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.
Not since 1994 has the Senate been in session past 4 a.m., Senate observers said.
Both sides set up strategy rooms right off the Senate floor with large screen televisions and props to help make their case to reporters and late-night C-SPAN viewers. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., for example, had a T-shirt saying "We confirmed 98 percent of President Bush's judges" on the front while the back said "and all we got was this lousy T-shirt."
The Senate has confirmed 168 federal trial and appeals judges since Bush took office, while Democrats have only blocked four.
Just in case someone gets sleepy, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the No. 2 Senate GOP leader, said 12 to 15 senators have asked for cots to be set up so they can nap near the Senate floor.
Advocates of civil and abortion rights that have led the opposition against the four Bush nominees distributed to Senate offices care packages that included coffee, analgesics and breath mints.
A senator from each party will be on the floor at all times until at least midnight Thursday. For example, a Republican will talk from 3 a.m. to 3:30 a.m., while a Democrat watches. They will switch roles for the next 30 minutes and then head home to bed, replaced by two others for the next shift lasting as little as one hour.
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This is just infuriating to me as a tax-paying citizen. I thought Senators were supposed to be higher than this immature BS. You know that nothing is going to change after this, and basically you have just wasted away 30 hours of your time, and taxpayer money. There are serious issues facing this country that I think the Senate should pay attention to instead of wasting their time on this load of crap.
What do you all think? |