quorum call:

mr. demint: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from south carolina.

mr. demint: are we in a quorum call? the presiding officer: yes, we are. mr. demint: i ask that the quorum call be suspended. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. demint: thank you, mr. president. i rise today regretfully to oppose the nomination of harold coe to be the state department legal advisor. it's hard to do because in meeting mr. k oovment h, i certainly enjoyed him. i have friends back in south carolina who know him and he is certainly very likeable person. but his nomination to this important position requires some scrutiny about what his philosophy is when it comes to the united states and our international agreements and the sovereignty of our country. so i oppose mr. koh's nomination for many reasons and really most importantly of these is my tbleef if of ited that he'll -- is my belief that if confirmed,

he'll greatly undermine the principles of sovereignty that i believe all americans expect of our federal government. let me talk a little bit about his role, what that would be if he's confirmed as the legal advisor to the state department. according to the state department's web site, the legal advisor will furnish and i quote, "advice on only legal issues domestic and international arising in the course of the department's work and negotiate, draft, and interpret international agreements involving peace initiatives, arms control discussions, and private law conventions on subjects such as judicial cooperation in recognition of foreign judgmen judgments." on a daily basis, mr. koh will also advise our government on a variety of federal legal issues that he believes affect international law in our foreign