Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mr. Lee and Mr. Tharp were both nominated on November 10, 2011--6 months ago. They appeared together in a hearing before the Judiciary Committee in January. They were both reported out of committee in February on a bipartisan voice vote.

There was an agreement reached between Senator McConnell and Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, about the nominees we brought forward for a vote. I was surprised when it was announced in March that the Lee and Tharp nominations, which had been together all through the process, were separated. The deal or arrangement called for John Lee to be scheduled for a confirmation vote by May 7, but at the insistence of the Republican leader, Senator McConnell, the deal did not include all of the nominees on the Senate calendar and it did not schedule a vote for Mr. Jay Tharp, Senator Kirk's nominee. I believe they should be confirmed together, just as they were nominated together and went through the committee together.

As soon as I heard about this so-called arrangement, I went first to Senator Kyl and then to Senator McConnell and said: Don't do this. Don't hold up Senator Kirk's nominee. He is in the hospital--now he is home, thank goodness--recovering from a stroke. We did this together. We are working together. Don't separate these two fine men. There is no reason to do it.

But I understand that this was the arrangement and they didn't want to change it--even to help Senator Kirk under these circumstances. They wanted to do only two nominees a week over a 7-week period of time, and the cutoff--the line they drew--was, unfortunately, between Mr. Lee and Mr. Tharp.

Well, I was going to propound a unanimous consent request today to include Mr. Tharp along with Mr. Lee on the vote we are about to take. There is only one reason I am not. We have received an ironclad assurance from the Senate Republican floor staff that Mr. Tharp is going to be called on a timely basis during this work period. I am going to hold them to it. I don't want to embarrass anyone, but it bothers me that the nominee of Senator Kirk is being held up by the Republican side of the aisle when it should be voted on today. There is no reason why it should not be voted on today. We should vote for both of them. But because a word has been given to me by a staff member whom I respect very much, I won't make this unanimous consent request. However, let me say this: If something happens--I don't know what it might be, and I hope it doesn't--I am prepared to come to the floor and propound that unanimous consent request not only on behalf of Senator Kirk but on behalf of my State and on behalf of my own interests in making sure that our Federal judiciary has a complement of qualified people.

Let me say a few words about each nominee--extraordinarily good nominees.

John Lee has been nominated to fill the judicial vacancy held by Judge David Coar. Mr. Lee is currently a partner at the law firm of Freeborn & Peters in Chicago, where he practices primarily in commercial litigation.

He is the son of a coal miner and a nurse. He immigrated to this country, to Chicago, at a very young age. From humble beginnings, he attended Harvard College, where he graduated magna cum laude and then earned his law degree cum laude from Harvard Law School.

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