Senate Proceeding 06-23-09 on Jun 23rd, 2009 :: 5:37:50 to 5:46:55
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5:37:47 to 5:38:07( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: united states of america if you work hard, play by the rules, and give it to anything is possible. thank you madam president, and with that i yield the floor. >> several of my colleagues from across the aisle the floor today to attack judge

5:37:50 to 5:46:55( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Charles Schumer

5:38:08 to 5:38:29( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: sotomayor's nomination to the supreme court and i must say i think these attacks are misplaced. i have always had a consistent standard for evaluating judicial nominees. i use it when voting for them, i use it when joining in on the nomination process and did president bush and continued under president obama and those

5:38:30 to 5:38:51( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: three standards are excellence, moderation and diversity. i am confident that judge sotomayor meets these criteria based on my review thus far of r lengthy an impressive record on both the district court and court of appeals. her impressive career of both public and private sectors, and her stellar academic credentials.

5:38:52 to 5:39:13( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: i have als impresse story. a true story of she pulled herself up from the projects in the bronx to stand before this body is a the highest court in the land. her history is truly inspirational. a history of which we should all be extremely proud of.

5:39:14 to 5:39:36( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: it's a great american story, is what the greatness of america is all about. as my friend from new jersey said earlier. i think some of the comments i have heard from my republican colleagues this morning have distorted judge sotomayor's distinguish record so let's take a minute to consider what the real story is. and how judge sotomayor's record

5:39:37 to 5:39:58( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: reflects the highest ideals of judging judge sotomayor's record reveals her to be both modest and moderate. and dedicated to the rule of law and not outcome oriented. for example, senator sessions spent some of his time as my criticizing one particular case -- about falun

5:39:59 to 5:40:19( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: disenfranchisement because judge sotomayor's dissent would have resulted in the outcome of which he did not agree. but he neglected to mention that her opinion was based on the plain text of the stature before the courts and he also led down some of the key revealing mments she made in her dissent. quote, no one disputes the states have the right to

5:40:20 to 5:40:40( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: disenfranchise the balance. second, quote, the duty of a judge is to follow the law, not question his plain terms. and number three, quotes, i trust that congress would prefer to me any needed changes itlf rather than have the courts do so for these of the kind of statements in the very case my good friend

5:40:41 to 5:41:01( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: from alabama uses to criticize the judge that we have heard from people on the other side of the aisle over and over and over again. as to what a judge should do appear in not replace his or her own judgment for that of the legislature. in or that ofhe lawn. and judge sotomayor was

5:41:02 to 5:41:23( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: followg text to a result, not the other way round. these clothes tell us a lot more about judge sotomayor's judicial philosophy and a commitment to rule of law than simply looking at the outcome in any particular case. and even when we look at outcomes the entirety of her record gives us a more accurate picture of her judicial

5:41:24 to 5:41:44( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: philosophy than in the outcome of any one case. she rejected discrimination claims in 81 percent of the cases she considered and in the 70 cases rejecting discrimination claims to dissented from the panel that she was on only twice. when my office looked a record on immigration cases, she sided

5:41:45 to 5:42:06( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: with the immigrants in the asylum cases only 1710% of the time. now, that is average for the entire second circuit. this should put to rest any notion she is a bad outcomes rather than by law, obviously she sympathizes with the immigrant experience, that has been clear. and but she does not enough let

5:42:07 to 5:42:28( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: those sympathies stand in the wayf purging what the law says and mandates. so she is clearly not a activist some who reaches beyond a proper role of a judge to impose a personal preferences and i think it is about time to defund the notion of judicial

5:42:29 to 5:42:49( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: activism as some are using it. but i think that jicial activism is starting to become cold for many of my friends on the other sid quote coming decisions witho comes i don't agree with. when they say judicial activist there are not looking at how close are far from the law, they

5:42:50 to 5:43:10( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: are rather looking and i did not agree with the ultimate decision. and that is why i prefer to use the term, modesty. in describing my ideal judge, and is a term tha justice roberts when he was before us. well, i will quote from the federalist papers as some of my colleagues have done era in

5:43:11 to 5:43:31( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: federalist number 78 the primary source for justification for judicial review in the constitution, alexander hamilton explains the role of a judge very simply. a judge must interpret the constitution, enter the laws when there is quote coming irreconcilable variance between the two, that which has the

5:43:32 to 5:43:53( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: superior obligation and validity or more, of course, to be preferred. in irreconcilable bearings and that imposes a high bar on in a judge who's attempting to strike down who is tempted to strike down a law or in practice or a decision by a legislature or executive is unconstitutional. this is by the way exactly the

5:43:54 to 5:44:15( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: standard judge sotomayor lived up to it in every chee when she deferred into the allied to the local official in new haven and to federal title seven long and too firm second circuit precedent. it has always been my view that a commitment to modesty is key in a judge. a judge who is modest understands that any concept of

5:44:16 to 5:44:36( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: doing justice must have as its touchstone the meeting that the authors of the text intended to give it. i also believe it is consistent with the judicial modesty to a knowledge that our constitution is written to indoor. .. adulthood to

5:44:37 to 5:44:58( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: become irrecognizable. i don't believe in using those terms. rather, mr. president,he constitution endures. it endures because the people whom it governs, the people who retain all of the many, many rights that are not listed in the document itself, believe that it continues to apply to them. and the only reason that it continues to apply to them is

5:44:59 to 5:45:21( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: through who are modest in reaching their conclusions. to live by the court's interpretation and judgment. they understand that people want justice and that justice means predictability, adherence to text, and the willingness to

5:45:22 to 5:45:42( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: avoid patently absurd results. i'm looking forward to the confirmation hearing of judge sotomayor. she is a gifted lawyer, a respected she is a gifted lawyer, she is a respected and serious jurist and her life experience will only serve to enrich the views of the eight other come bring with him or her individual lessons, lessons

5:45:43 to 5:46:05( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: taught by a hard-working grandfather in georgia, indendence duteous minded mother who died the day before her daughter graduated high school, by a hotel under in chicago and illinois or by a single spanish-speaking mother who told her could do anything through hard work and a good education. let's be reasonable and realistic.

5:46:06 to 5:46:28( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: these experiences do not turn a good judge into a bad, or an impartial one for whatever my colleagues on the the aisle are to recognize the role of two of knowledge in the art and science of interpreting the constitution and laws of our country, we have to ask

5:46:29 to 5:46:49( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: ourselves the following questions. do we trust more the decisions of judges the osi have said before, have ice water in their veins, who view their role was stripping themselves of past and rolling in a vacuum free of human experience and common sense? or, to a trust more the decisions of judges would knowledge and address their own

5:46:50 to 5:46:56( Edit History Discussion )

Charles Schumer: life experiences, even striving always to be fair and