i rise to speak on behalf of of the nomination of harold koh. i speak from a real depth of personal spaoefrpbs with harold koh. i know him and have known him for years as a friend and a neighbor in new haven, connecticut. and based on that and all his professional work, there is no doubt in my mind that he is profoundly qualified to occupy this important position as legal advisor at the department of state. he's a brilliant scholar. he's one of america's foremost experts on international law. he actually is qualified to be the legal advisor to the secretary of state. he has a distinguished record of service in our government, having worked in both democratic and republican administrations, consistently won the highest regard from people across the political spectrum. harold koh will bring to this position a deep devotion to our country and the appreciation of the fundamental values for which we stand based on his status, personal status as the child of immigrants who came to this country, escaping dictatorship and seeking freedom and contributin

but based on my two decades of interaction with harold, i'm firmly convinced that harold is extraordinarily well qualified to serve with distinction. harold's background is the essence of the american dream. harold embraces deeply a vision of the goodness of america and the ideals of a nation ruled abidingly by law. end quote. this is overwhelming support for harold koh. usually these nominations are done routinely at night when there are few people on the floor and we're going through a long series of things to do. someone with this kind of background doesn't even slow down as they move through the senate on to public service. but, unfortunately, the strategy on the other side of the aisle is to slow things down and do as little as possible this week. well, i sincerely hope that when the time comes, when the 30 hours have run, when the republicans have finally decided that they don't want to delay the senate any longer, that they will bring mr. koh's nomination to a vote. i enthusiastically support his nomination an encourage my colleagues to join me in voting him out of the senate quickly

hard to find anybody who has a better record than -- than dean harold koh. his experience in international law is extensive in human righ rights, is an ideal legal advisor to the department of state with his background and his experience. and he has judgment and he has balance. and for my personal knowledge, i have total confidence that he would apply his legal knowledge and his background in a wise and iissedacious way. he testified before the judiciary committee when i chaired the committee and in every way is exemplary. it is a little surprising to me that it's necessary to have a cloture vote, to have 60 votes to take up the nomination of dean koh. but considering the politics of washington and considering the politics of the united states senate, perhaps i shouldn't be surprised at anything. but having a very, very high surprise threshold, i say that i'm surprised that dean koh would require 60 votes to reach a confirmation vote. but i urge anybody who has any doubts about the caliber of this man to get out their glasses -- or you may need a magnifying

ford -- is harold still here? if harold were speaking he would have stayed, i guarantee you. tell him i said so, will you, please? or just yell at the television when you see him come on. but al from kept the faith an kept the focus. and he made an extraordinary difference in terms of responsibility and community, in terms of opportunity, in terms of education, in terms of commitment to at that time security. the values that americans knew were important to build our current and were necessary to maintain our current and make it even greater. so, i'm here tonight with all of you to honor someone who has made such a difference in our count country. a sit who took had he -- a citizen who took his responsibility extraordinarily important to him. a person who preached perform responsibility but, more importantly, took personal responsibility. personal responsibility to make a difference. al, you have made a difference. you have made difference corporately with it organization. you have made a difference in my life. yo

and i understand that cloture has been filed on harold koh, and i wanted to come to register my strong opposition and assure the american people that their representatives in congress are not going to let this nominee sail through unopposed and to let them know that there are some of us here in the senate who will require full and extensive debate before this nominee receives a vote. and i think that you -- in doing so, you almost have to ask the question as to whatever happened to the understanding we've always had in this country taos what sovereignty really means. as legal advisor to the state department, koh would be advising the straighter on the legality of united states actions in the international forum and interpreting and advocating for the international law and treaties. the significance of this position and its effect on our sovereignty and security shouldn't be understated. koh is a self-proclaimed transnationallist, adheres to this school of thought, believes that international school of law is equal to or should take precedent over domestic law and international court ru

if harold were speaking, you would have stayed, i guarantee you. [laughter] tell him i said so, will you please? are just yell at the television when you see him come on. but al from cap that faith and the focus and made an extraordinary difference in terms of responsibility, community, opportunity, education, and commitment to national security. the values that americans know were important to build our country and are necessary to manor country -- maintain our country and make even better. so i am here tonight to honor someone who has made such a difference in our country. a citizen who took his responsibility extraordinarily important to him. son who preached personal responsibility but more importantly took personal responsibility. personal responsibility to make a difference. al, you have made a difference. you have made a difference corporately with this organization, you've made a difference in my life. you've made a difference in the lives of all with whom you've worked. you and your beautiful bride have been friends for a very long period

harold koh to be the legal advisor to the department of state. my concerns with mr. koh arise primarily from his own statements, writings and testimony before congress. in my opinion, he seems more comfortable basing his legal conclusions on partisan political opinions and trendy arguments rather than the facts and the law. we don't need more legal clerics in government. we need more legal realists in government, someone who pays attention to the hard work that we do in this body to pass laws. the department of state and the country deserve better than that kind of advice. let me provide a few quick examples. on september 16, 2008, mr. koh testified before the senate judiciary subcommittee on the constitution. his written testimony included the following statement -- quote -- "a compliant congress repeatedly blessed unsound executive policies by enacting nominal loophole-ridden bans on torture and cruel treatment and rubber-stamping without serious hearings, presidentially introduced legislation ranging from the patriot act to the military commissions act to the most

the new dlc chairman harold ford, jr. continues to speak out as one of the nation's up and coming senators. rahm emanuel leads democrats back into the majority on capitol hill after penning with bruce reed a plan in 2006. in continuing with the tradition of helping young leaders emerge and the stars, the dlc founds a new program with an eye towards the future. a quarter-century later, barack obama and joe biden's historic victory in 2008 proves that the party is ready. the new administration and congress have the chance to build a long lasting change and reform, and the opportunity to carry out a new democratic agenda. education reform, national service, health reform, energy, fiscal responsibility, and long- term growth. on the democratic leadership council, the organization that al built from the ground up is taking on a new challenge. under bruce's leadership, house legacy lives on. the power of a good idea can still inspire our party and to transform our nation. >> 25 years ago, he had the courage to see it was time f

the clerk: nomination, department of state, harold hungu ko of connecticut to be legal advisor of the department of state. mr. reid: mr. president, i send a cloture motion to the desk.. the presiding officer: the clerk will report the cloture motion. the clerk: cloture motion. we, the undersigned senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule 22 of the standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of harold hongju koh of connecticut to be legal advisor of the department of state. signed by 18 senators as follows: reid, pryor, whitehouse, inouye, feingold, dodd, burris, durbin, murray, tester, udall of colorado, klobuchar, reed of rhode island, baucus, merkley, lincoln, cantwell, dorgan. mr. reid: i ask that the mandatory quorum be waived. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. reid: i ask the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask now that we proceed to a period of monk business, senators allowed to speak -- of morning business, senators allowed to spea

the national is operating -- the senate is operating under cloture in considering the nomination of harold koh. mr. kerry: and the tile on that -- has the time for a vote been set at this point? the presiding officer: it has not. mr. kerry: is not set. i thank the chair. with that in mind, i think the leadership is hopeful of trying to ghat vote somewhere in the near-term. and i want to make some closing comments with respect to the nomination of dean koh. but before i do, i want to have a chance to share a few thoughts with the distinguished chairman of the environment and public works committee, who has been just an extraordinaril an extran this subject of global change. i think the senator has a terrific life. and i'm proud of what she is doing with respect to this issue. and it's rulely interesting -- i think it's really important for us to talk about a few of the things. the senator from oklahoma, senator inhofe, has made some comments on the floor of the senate that are either wrong on facts or, i think, wrong in terms of the judgment politically. and i want to say up front, as my co

, has been harolded as the best in the world. so think about that. what's going on in the rest of the world when we're talking about here, we're talking about a one-degree rise in temperature from the depths of the mini ice age and yet now we have these monitors that even today, even by today's standards are substandard. and that's by today's standards, not back in the 1860's or in other parts of the world. so what's that -- how's that for a scientific challenge? if the data is being based on monitors that don't meet scientific standards either today or in the past, how can we pass laws with taxes and controls on our people if the so-called problem is based on bogus or absolutely unscientifically obtained numbers? and even with the current methods of collecting data, we have been warned time an again of dire predictions. so, the numbers themselves are suspect but those people have been warning us about those numbers over the last 20 years have been spreading incredible alarm. i mean, that is exemplified by vice president gore and

harold ickes, she writes about it obliquely. she says, she did not like to criticize fdr even after his death but she said she thought it was a rare failure of political judgment on fdr's part that he did it but harold ickes road in his diary angrily that frances perkins was trying to oppose the court packing plant. >> we have another question. >> at the back of the room you had mentioned that there were some things that were cut from the budget that you had written so much more and without pointing figures by guest at doubleday. would you like to do that? >> i think much of the fault is my own. the book kiai, the original book i wrote what had been in 900 page book, too long, too long but frances perkins had done so much. she has done as much as many presidents, was as a bald and has many things. we were trying to find places to cut. her personal life is very interesting. we have only talked about it a little bit but her personal life was very interesting and we thought would that be more appealing to a broader audience to hear

harold hongju koh, state department legal advisor, like the interior department, the state department, secretary clinton wants a lawyer there. a lawyer with the huge most important office -- no. robert groves nominated to be the director of the corner cens. and there are 20 others. just republicans recklessly refuse to confirm our new ambassador to iraq, listen to what they're doing now: they're holding up lieutenant general stanley mcchrystal, imminently qualified soldier who president obama and secretary gates chose to be our new commander in afghanistan. i met him in my office the other day. this is a man whose military is in his blood. his father was a great general. his father won five silver stars fighting for our country around the world. stanley mcchrystal is an expert in counterinsurgency which we need so badly in afghanistan. but, no, we're not going to get him approved. at least for now. republicans are so opposed to everything they even oppose putting people in some of the most important positions in our government. we believe, the majority believe, democrats believe, thos

before doing that, i worked for harold, this rather glorious days. a very reasonable roll.ork for at the occasional magazine, sometimes not. in a way, a good journalist in the first draft of history. i was lucky in life. goodness, how time flies. stand up and be counted. how long do i have? that sounds alarming. your life will expire in 3 minutes. two:59. eight:15. this skinny kid with the curly hair? there are 2 kind of history you can do. both of them in the light of history, going all the way back. in the nineteenth history, that gloaming -- a great one in oxford. there is no irony intended. it was thought of the contamination of history. a slightly egregious example, like the author of the water babies. since i have been shown charles dickens's desk upstairs. in the french revolution, he gets in his wheel barrow around the corner. this was a kind of bulger contamination. this kind of monck locked himself in the archives. then tuned in to the mysterious 5 that came out of the rose, historian's job, the objective presentation of archival material. editing was scholarship,

. >> from 20 first century business harold. my question, based on your knowledge, how soon can the u.s. and russia and the administration take the real action plan to reduce nuclear weapons in eaton, when will the first war had to be reduced, and the second question regarding the upcoming trip obama is going to make to russia, what kind of progress do you expect patent, this meeting can produce? >> the united states and russia have begun the process of nuclear weapons. they began that process with the implementation of the s.t.a.r.t. treaty in 1991 and those have carried our reductions since that period. what we are proposing, as the plan describes, the u.s. dismantling rate is 350 warheads per year, if you follow the stage of 1,000 warheads, that would wrap up from 350 to 1,000 warheads per year. we think that is doable, that can be done. the same is true for the warhead reductions that would take place on the russian side as well. those warheads have been reduced in the past and they can certainly be reduced in the present. t

earlier today the majority leader filed nomination for cloture on harold koh. if we're unable to reach an agreement to consider the nomination, that cloture vote would occur wednesday morning. if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. and fairness. >> tonight on the communicator's a discussion on president obama es choice to lead the federal communications commission with andrew feinberg broadband census and form johnson with dow jones news wire. with the fcc would look like under a new chairman to night eight eastern on the communicators on c-span2. >>> topics at today's state department briefing include the continuing unrest in iran, u.s. relations with china and u.s. navies ongoing surveillance of the north korean ship suspected of transporting beer and nuclear technology. the briefing is conducted by state department spokesman kelly. it's half an hour. >> good afternoon. i think as many of you have heard the

[applause] thank you, harold ford jr., for friendship and your fidelity to the dlc, and what you said tonight. thank you, bruce reed, for all of your wonderful service in the white house, and your friend should to me and for leading the dlc and for what you said tonight. thank you, will marshall. thank you, ginger and sarah and jenny and mark. and thank you, elizabeth. this is really all for you, after all. i would like to thank those who, like me, had the benefit of serving as chair of the dlc. they're all here, and have all been introduced. it is a club by want to be a part of. we were really breasts -- blessed in those early years. there is a really magnificent person who is going to speak after me that proves the dlc program. rachel, i am so proud of you. i'm glad you're representing the state and local officials. that was a really good movie. it had the virtue of being at least except for the stuff about me, true. i think secretary sebelius may be here. we were together at a previous event, and i'll have more to say about that in a minute. i loved getting involved with the dlc. f

harold baines at the top of the list, alphabetically, he hit his first major league off me. >> rob: rick dempsey is in there. >> jim h.: deferty sold me he owned you, he absolutely told me he owned you. maybe i'm exaggerating. >> rob: gibson did own me. he hit a game winning home run off me in detroit my only year in the american league. >> jim h.: ken griffey, sr., not, jr. >> jim p.: howard johnson. batting instructor with the mets. >> rob: i think mike had about 300 minor league home runs. >> jim p.: i'm just talking about -- >> rob: did you face over 20,000 hitters? >> jim p.: i don't know. let's not get depressed. my arm will start hurting. >> jim h.: well, 4,000 innings, times three. all the walks. one or two base hits. >> jim p.: a lot of walks. >> jim h.: a couple of grand slams. >> rob: who hit the most home runs off you? >> jim p.: rice hit nine, eight sole lows. >> rob: you have to feel pretty good, he's going into the hall of fame. >> jim p.: nettles, who was a terrific hitter. two guys get into the hall of fame, ricky henderson i think hit over .400 against me. what an annoy

college and was never quite sure what i wanted to be between doing at least even some i worked for haroldsunday times of london and it's rather glorious investigative phase in the small role in a couple of days a week hired by a friend of mine working for the paper. i worked for the occasional magazine and i felt it was the job in a way of good journalists almost always read the first draft of history. i was lucky. i was the sort of undeserved that in cambridge to did to kinds of history after we simplified. goodness, how time flies when one is having fun. where is andy, stand up and be counted? there you are. how long do i have? >> [inaudible] >> that sounds alarming. [inaudible] [laughter] door life will expire in three minutes. [laughter] i'm counting now, two minutes and 59 -- yes? >> [inaudible] >> 8:15. standing there, but skinny kid with the curly hair, get him. [laughter] interrupt our fun at your peril, buster. [laughter] there were two kind of history could do and they have pedigree both of them in the life of history itself, and all the way back. in the 19th century when histor

also, a vote to advance the nomination of harold code to the legal counsel for that state department. that is expected at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. now, live senate coverage on c-span2. cert may their consistent communion with you radiate on their faces, be expressed in their character and be exuded in positive joy. fill this chamber with your spirit and our senators with your strength and courage. we pray in your gracious name. amen. the presiding officer: please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the presiding officer: the clerk will read a communication to the senate. the clerk: washington d.c., june 24, 2009. to the senate: under the provisions of rule 1, paragraph 3, of the standing rules of the senate, i hereby appoint the honorable daniel k. inouye, a senator from the state of hawaii, to perform the duties of the chair. signed: robert c. byrd, presidet pro tempore. mr. reid: at 10:00 o

chairman harold ford jr. continues to speak out as one of the foremost. rahm emanuel leads democrats back that a majority after penning with bruce reed "the plan" in 2006. and continuing the tradition of helping leaders emerge into stars the d.l.c. found a new fellows program with an eye for the future. the quarter century after the d.l.c. took up the challenge of bring being back the forgotten middle class barack obama's and joe biden's victory proves that the party has been reborn. the new administration and congress have a chance to build a broad lasting majority for change and reform and the opportunity to carry out a new agenda for a new era. education reform, national service, health reform, energy, fiscal responsibility and long-term growth. in the democratic leader council the organization that al from built from the ground up is taking on that new challenge. under bruce reed's leadership al's legacy lives on proofrpg once again how -- proving once again how the power of a good idea with build the party. >> 25 years ago al had the courage to see i

[applause] >> thank you, harold ford jr., for your friendship and fidelity to the d.l.c. and for what you said about al tonight. thank you, bruce reed, for all of your wonderful service in the white house and your friendship to me and for leading the d.l.c. and for what you said tonight. thank you, will marshall, thank you gyinger and sarah and jenny. and mark. and thank you, elizabeth. this is really all for you, after all. i would like to thank those who, like me, had the benefit of serving as chair of the d.l.c. they are all here and they have all been introduced. but it was a club i wanted to be part of. and world championship really blessed in those early years by chuck robb and sam nunn and dick gephardt, later joe lieberman, ev evan bayh. by senator carper, and there is a really, i think, magnificent person that will speak after me that proves the d.l.c. fellows program, rachel storch i'm glad you are hear representing the state and local representatives affiliated with the d.l.c. that was a really good movie. it had the virtue of being at least except for the stuf

morning business, the senate will turn to executive session to resume debate on the nomination of harold koh to be legal advisor for the department of state. we hope some of the post cloture debate time can be yielded back and we'll be able to vote on the nomination as early as possible. if we're unable to yield any time, the vote would occur about 5:30 this evening. we're working on an agreement to consider a legislative branch appropriations bill. senators will be notified when votes will be scheduled or agreements reached. madam president, it's my understanding that s. 1344 is at the desk and due for a second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill. the clerk: a bill to temporarily protect the solvency of the highway trust fund. mr. reid: i would object, madam president, to any further proceedings with respect to this legislation at this time. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the bill will be placed on the calendar. mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: madam president, americans are ins

we were at this fancy dinner last night, raising money for the schools, that harold washington rewards kicks off the book fair and dave eggers is the winner of the award and we are sitting at this dinner. dave eggers, he has done so much with his reading and tutoring centers throughout the nation and has done so much for publishing for writers and kids. i said, how did you get that way? and i heard myself. i remembered so vividly that i had been sitting at studs house with ed curve, e.l. doctorow and dr. row was talking about his own life instead said, how did you get that way? doctorow said nobody has really ask me that. and, i realized that studs has given me this gift, kind of internalized his world view. >> dave eggers thanks eeyore this mardis human being he has ever met now. >> what do you think paul? >> intellectuals, but writers and so forth of which this conference is rightly famous, book festival is rightly famous, have one big fights in my opinion and that is we tend to look past people. thinking about ideas. i think this is more a male flies then a female vice but we tend t

harold pratt, former president of the national science teacher association and bill nye, the science guy, that if members on the floor don't know who is their children certainly do. underscores the critcrith call need for science education programs such as the jason project to attract america's youth to science disciplines and to better equip our teachers through professional go both witnesses agreed that the struggle to attract and retain students to science begins early, begins in elementary school, and that the preparation and education of science teachers is one of the most important elements in that recruitment. the jason program, which was founded in 1989 by dr. robert ballard who discovered the die titanic, mr. chairman, has helped inspire and motivate more than seven million students and teachers to become more proficient in science. i can't think of a program that has a better return on investment, one that has reach sod many and could have such a profound impact on america's innovation and competitiveness in the long run and it does one other thing, mr. chairman, upon closi

we have harold hongju koh, and i heard on monday, day before yesterday to secretary clinton, this is somebody she needs very badly. he is going to be the lawyer for the state department. we have a number of people under the. >> under the judiciary committee. we have somebody who's going to be the -- help run the department of homeland security. rand beers, good person. extremely well qualified. and as i indicated, a number on judiciary but the topper is lieutenant general stanley mcchrystal to run afghanistan. i would hope that people would search their con shns and try to get these -- conscience and try to get these done. i can't file cloture on every one of these. so people watching this understand, it takes days for us to do that. but 25 nominations are held up. it would take until the summer until we finish the july recess and beyond for us to get this done, filing cloture on every one of these. i hope it doesn't come to that. mr. president, on another topic, in a single word, health care debate is about choices. our country, are you going to choose you can't take children to the

because i didn't have an opportunity to this morning, we had a cloture vote on the nomination of harold koh to be the next u.s. state department legal advisor. and i wanted to express some of my views and the concerns that i have. now, obviously cloture was invoked this morning. my guess is ultimately he will have the votes to be confirmed here, but we have an opportunity now in the postcloture period to talk a little bit about this nominee. and i have to say, mr. president, that, again, this is an important position. if confirmed for this position, mr. koh would be "the" top lawyer at the state department and would be involved in the negotiation, the drafting, and the interpretation of treaties in u.n. security council resolutions. he would also represent the united states in other international negotiations, at international organizations and before the international court of justice. to put it very simply, mr. president, he would be viewed as the top legal authority for the united states by the international community. now, similar to judge sotomayor, mr. koh highlights a trend which

the presiding officer: we are in executive nomination of harold koh. mr. enzi: are there time restrictions? the presiding officer: we're in postcloture which requires debate on the pending matter. mr. enzi: mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent i be allowed to speak as if in morning business for such time as i might consume. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. enzi: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to speak on the need to reform our nation's health care system. if we're to be successful we must undertake this effort with the greatest of care and deliberation. when it comes to health care reform we've started down this road before. last congress i proposed legislation called ten steps to transform health care in america in an effort to provide a blueprint from which we could begin to address the challenge of improving our health care system. i might mention that the way that came about is that senator kennedy was the chairman of thee health, education, labor and pensions committee and i was ranking member and he and i worked t

getting on me about that catfish and i could not get off that so come up by the way did you hear what harold said about the fish over there? the story is going. it is just the way be learn to talk and present things. .. it is different and maybe it won't hurt me if i read that, but there are reviewers to say there he goes again and i for anathemas and the times and some money quoted to sentences of my but these are examples what the make of this and when you going to do with the writer who writes a sentence like this? with prairie earth that came to the foreground and a few credits you'll understand, if you are one of 18 people in america who read it. earth. and i say this? i look at my notes and see what it doesn't say. i should have put on the dust jacket of prairie earth this little phrase -- using it on the instruction manuals that come with barbecue grills or hot water heaters or something else. some assembly required. [laughter] should have been there because to make very earthwork you have to participate in the assembly as readers are selma and i won't put it in this category but i wi

"the sydney morning harold," "coming to america isn't easy". "the guardian," "america, more hassle than it's worth." the sunday -- "the sunday times," "travel to america? no thanks." it's hard to get a visa. long waiting lines, they think. much of that has been c cleared away. in the construction of this legislation, we talked a lot about that. but we don't want this to be the message to the rest of the world. in fact, quite the opposite. what a large group of us in the united states congress want is we want our country to be eng gauged internationally to -- engaged internationally to say, come to america, to see the united states is to understand the wonder of this great country. come here, stay here, vacation here, and understand what america's about. i can't think of anything better in terms of our position in the world and our people think of this great country. -- country than to invite them and encourage them to come here. and that is what occasions this piece of legislation called the travel promotion act of 2009. interestingly enough, t

"the sydney morning harold" said coming to america isn't easy. i think there was a feel around the world post 9/11. we very interested in trying to keep some people out of here. obviously we want to keep tests out. we made it -- terrorists out. we made it difficult for people to get a visa. "the guardian" said "america, more hassle than it's worth. "the sunday times said "travel to america? no thanks." so a large group of us put some legislation together to say let's find a unique way to pro met our country and so we put together a travel promotion act. every other piece of legislation that comes to the floor of the senate costs money and would increase the deficit if not paid for, the congressional budget office says enacting this bill would reduce budget deficits b by $429 million. that is almost a half billion dollars between 2010 and 2019. so this would reduce the budget deficit. we're not talking about something that spends money. this reduces the budget deficit over 10 years by nearl nearly $500 million. now, i just mentioned we fund this i

president, i rise to speak on the nomination of harold koh whom the president nominated to be legal adviser at the state department. this is a relatively obscure, but very important position at state department and the legal adviser operates frequently behind-the-scenes but on such important issues as international relation, national security, and in other areas. one area that's very important is that the real leel adviser is the -- the legal adviser is often the last word of state department on questions regarding treaty interpretation, that is, international agreements between countries. a legal adviser often gives legal advice to the secretary of state and the president of the united states during important negotiations with other nations. we also know that from experience the legal adviser can be a very important voice in diplomatic circles especially if he or she views america's obligations to other nations and multilateral organizations in a particular way, particularly if they have strong views. professor koh has an impressive academic resume and a professional background. he's an ac

the question is: is it the sense of the that the senate debate on the nomination of harold koh of the connecticut to be legal adviser of the state department shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: any senator wanting to vote or change their vote? seeing or hearing none, on this vote the yeas are 65. the nays are 31. three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn have voted in the affirmative. the motion is agreed to. no applause from the gallery is allowed. mr. chambliss: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. chambliss: i ask unanimous consent that i be allowed to speak as if in morning business and that i be followed by my colleague, senator isakson. the presiding officer: is there objection? hearing no objection so ordered. khabg khabg i rise to dashes. mr. chambliss: i rise to pay tribute to dr. bruce gruby. he took the helm of southern university in statesburg, georgia. after ten years on the job he will leave georgia southern a bigger, bet

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

in this session we will explore the advances that have been made and with these developments harold for new developments, treatment prevention, strategies and policies. we assembled a stellar panel. i am thrilled to introduce the panel, starting with someone you may have seen on the science channel, dr. sanjay gupta. he is a practicing neurosurgeon and professor of neurosurgery at emory university in atlanta. . he reports on breaking medical news, provides regular health and medical updates on american morning and makers of medical affairs program. joining dr. sanjay gupta r. richard gephardt boosters as house majority leader from 1989 to 1995. today he is president and ceo of gephardt group government affairs. what in the -- what a coincidence to be heading accompanying with the same name as his. is a strategic advice to clients before the house science and executive branch of government. we are joined by dr. ron kessler, professor of health care policy at harvard medical school. that is the most cited mental health researcher. dr. kessler's research deals broadly with the social deter

for these reasons, madam president, i urge my colleagues to oppose the nomination of harold koh as legal advicer to the -- adviser to the state department. i yield the floor and reserve the balance of my time. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. cornyn: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: madam president, we would yield back the remainder of our time. madam president, i would ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the question is on the confirmation of the nomination of -- the yeas and nays have been ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote:

president, the nomination of harold koh concerns me for a number of reasons. primarily his view that international law should guide u.s. law. and his criticism of our first amendment right to freedom of speech, and his opposition to the solomon amendment which conditions federal funding to educational institutions on allowing military recruiting on campus. the state department legal advisor helps formulate and implement u.s. foreign policy, advises the justice department on cases with international implications, influences u.s. positions on issues considered by international bodies, and represents the u.s. at treaty negotiations and international conferences. in short, this position requires the utmost deference to the constitution of the united states. mr. koh is a proponent of transnationalism, the belief that americans should use foreign law a