| Export-Import Bank Reauthorization Act Of 2012—Motion To Proceed |
May 14, 2012 |
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Bob Corker, R-TN
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"I think most people in this body know there is no way this bill is going to work the way it is laid out; that the costs are going to be substantially more because in a free enterprise system, people act on their own behalf, in their own self-interest. The subsidies are so high for families up to $88,000 a year, the penalty is so low, what is going to happen is we are going to have millions and millions of people out on this program far beyond the projections that have been laid out."
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| Nomination Of George Levi Russell Iii, To Be United States District Judge For The District Of Maryland |
May 14, 2012 |
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Richard Durbin, D-IL
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"It isn’t fair to the nominees. It really takes a pretty stalwart individual to put their name up to be a Federal judge because they are going to go through three or four different levels of investigation and some pretty serious investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for example. That is part of the process. There are investigations by the White House, by the Senators’ offices, by the Senate Judiciary Committee. So it is not an easy undertaking. There might have been a time—I know there was—when these nominations were made in 48 hours with hardly a question asked. It doesn’t happen anymore. Hard questions are asked, and then comes the suspense of starting the process and waiting for it to end. These poor nominees sit there with their professional and personal lives on hold, having said they are prepared to step forward and serve a lifetime appointment on the Federal judiciary, and then they wait day after weary day, week after weary week, month after month, sitting on this Executive Calendar so that at some point there will be a bargaining session and some names will go forward and some won’t."
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| Supreme Court Review |
May 14, 2012 |
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Patrick Leahy, D-VT
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"I am not going to be offended if some of the Justices don’t like us personally or disagree with the policy judgments reflected in the law as individuals, as citizens, or as human beings; they are entitled to their personal views just as we are. But as Justices, they are supposed to put those petty personal views and feelings aside. They are supposed to begin their inquiry by respecting the will of the people as reflected in the work of Congress and to defer to Congress unless the laws we pass violate the Constitution. However, during the argument, it seemed that the Justices were second guessing the policy judgments that were made during the extended legislative process. That is not the purpose or proper exercise of judicial review. Acting out based on their personal views in this matter would be the height of conservative judicial activism. Let me repeat that. Acting out based on their personal views in this matter would be the height of conservative judicial activism."
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| Securing American Jobs Through Exports Act Of 2012—Motion To Proceed |
May 10, 2012 |
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Harry Reid, D-NV
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"So the House did the right thing yesterday. This is the sort of bill the Senate should now simply pass without amendment. It is so unusual here. I have been in Congress 30 years. But this is a new one. Even bills that they agree on they want to mess around with. In years past, this would have gone through just like this. Forget about what took place 2 months ago. But now the House passed something 330 to 93, and we are here playing around with it. It should be done. We should have passed it yesterday. This thing is going to expire."
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| Teacher Appreciation Week |
May 10, 2012 |
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Jim Costa, D-CA
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"We all have had at least one or more teachers who has shaped our lives and who have believed in us. Mine was Mrs. Myrna Collins, who taught me in both the fourth and seventh grades back at Kearney Elementary School. This no-nonsense woman with a Texas drawl was determined that, despite the fact that I could be a handful, I was going to behave and learn—and learn I did."
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