Executive Session

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I will conclude this debate with the following points:

First, under the Democrats' standard from 2006, the DC Circuit needs no additional judges. This is why current judges have written things like: ``If any more judges were confirmed now, there wouldn't be enough work to go around.''

Second, the President has made clear on a host of issues, such as cap-and-trade fee increases, that he will simply go around Congress through administrative action rather than do the hard work of passing legislation. That is why he wants to stack the deck on this court with committed ideologues, as Professor Pillard appears to be. It seems the President is confident Professor Pillard would be a reliable rubber stamp, considering she is outside the mainstream on a host of issues, including religious freedom, abortion, and abstinence-only education.

So I agree with those Democrats who said during the Bush administration: ``The Senate should not be a rubber stamp to this President's effort to pack the court with those who would give him unfettered leeway.''

There is simply no justification for spending $1 million per year for these lifetime appointments given the lack of workload under the Democrats' standard from 2006.

Accordingly, I urge a ``no'' vote on the cloture motion.

I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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