the american bar association looked at the qualifications of caitlin halligan and here's what they saide is unanimously well qualified to serve in this position." and ms. halligan's legal views are well within the judicial mainstream. she's received widespread support from across the political spectrum. what i heard from the republican leader were isolated cases she may have argued but he doesn't speak to the fact that the national district attorneys association, the district attorneys from the state of new york including daniel dan avan, william fits patrick and jot comburns, have all publicly endorsed her nomination. raymond kelly, police commissioner for the city of new york, robert morguen you that -- morgenthal who served in new york county for 34 years and endorses her. the new york association of chiefs of police, the new york state sheriffs association. when you listen to these endorsements and wonder is that the same woman the senate republican leader questioned as to whether she was serious about stopping terrorism? i listened to some of these things and i wobder -- wonder how

unfortunately, it appears that some of my colleagues are determined to criticize caitlin halligan regardless of the facts. one of the criticisms of miss halligan are positions she advocated for while serving as solicitor general. she filed briefs at the direction of new york's attorney general and argued on behalf of the state. that was her job. she was not promoting her personal views. miss halligan testified that she would faithfully follow and apply the supreme court's precedent from heller and mcdonald. when asked whether the rights conferred under the second amendment are fundamental, miss halligan answered, "that is clearly what the supreme court held and i would follow that precedent." let me also address the workload concerns brought up by some of my fellow senators. there are currently only eight active gummings on the d.c. circuit making it one-quarter vacant. ms. halligan has been nominated to fill the ninth seat, one of three current vacancies on the court. the senate confirmed four of president bush's nominees for the d.c. circuit. however, the court's caseload is higher now tha

caitlin halligan, 54 in favor, 45 against. that means none of those things passed. >> the senate voted along party lines against confirming former ohio attorney general richard cordray. >> the senate voted down both republican and democratic compromise proposals to exten t the payroll tax break. >> the headline, senate rejects cloture on d.c. circuit nominee caitlin halligan. t the cloture word is important. all these things, that judge nomination, the consumer protection nominations, payroll tax cut extension, they all got majority yes votes in the senate. they still did not pass. because republicans did something that's called a filibuster. so a majority vote doesn't count. it's not enough to pass something. republicans do this on everything. everything over the past few years. every vote of substance. they have taken a rule that used to be for exceptional extreme circumstances only and they are applying it basically to every vote now. effectively changing the constitutional structure of our government so one house of congre

like john roberts, caitlin halligan is a highly regarded nominee. she is unquestionably qualified to serve for the d.c. circuit. she should be confirmed, not filibustered. but yet again, we see senate republicans shifting the standards they use, and the arguments they make based on the priority of the president making the nomination. they say one thing when president clinton is in office, they flip when the president is republican and flop when the american people elect president obama. the same republican senators that blocked president clinton's nominations from even being considered by the judiciary committee supported every nomination of president bush's d.c. circuit as they filled the ninth seat, twice filled the tenth seat and then wanted to fill the 11th seat. it was a judgeship they said was unnecessary, it shouldn't be filled when it was a democratic president, but suddenly it became very necessary when there was a republican president. but then when the election of president barack obama, republican senators have dusted off an old obstruct

president, when caitlin halligan drove with her father from her home in kansas city to harvard, or when she was a standout student at georgetown law, or when she started her law for the new york attorney general's office, i'm sure that she could not have imagined that someday she would be the topic of the debate in the united states about whether she was too radical or lacked the candor to be a judge. i hope that when we vote and the debate is over my colleagues recognize the truth here: halligan is a sterling example of a public servant who has worked hard, earned every honor she has received and fits squarely within the mainstream of judicial thought. she deserves an up-or-down vote today, and i will be proud to cast my vote for cloture on caitlin halligan's nomination. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the clerk will report the motion to invoke cloture. 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 debate on the nomination of caitlin joan hall

her name is kaitlyn cal hin -- caitlin halligan, who has argued many cases before the supreme court, i don't have a resume in front of me. i spoke to her nomination last week. she was found unanimously well qualified by the american bar association and yet she was filibustered by the republicans. and we couldn't come up, we couldn't come up be with -- only one republican vote to support us. only one. all the rest said filibuster continues. to put that in historic perspective, a few years ago we had a big confrontation in the senate before the president was elected. so i don't implicate him in any way but before this president, there was an argument about whether you should filibuster federal nominees. a group of 14 bipartisan group said only under extraordinary circumstances. last week with this filibuster on this nominee they completely forgot that except for one, senator hurricanes of alaska -- murkowski of alaska. she joined us breaking to -- she joined us voting to break the filibuster, it wasn't enough. that one nominee fell by the wayside. one filibuster a week wasn't enough fo

standing rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the nomination of caitlin joan halligan for united states district judge for the district of columbia circuit signed by 17 senators -- mr. reid: i would ask that the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent that on tuesday, december 6, at 11:00 a.m., the is not proceed to executive session to consider calendar number 43, there be an hour of debate equally divided prior to the cloture vote, and mandatory quorum under rule 22 be waived. officer without objection. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent to resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from kansas. mr. moran: mr. president, thank you. just a few moments ago we cast several votes in regard to the so-called payroll tax holiday. i opposed both the republican amendment and the democrat amendment. there were significant differences between these two versions of this legislation, in part the differences -- at least included

yesterday we saw an incredible, astonishing republican filibuster of the nomination of caitlin halligan to serve on the d.c. circuit court of appeals. the fact of the matter is those voting against her nomination couldn't come up with a good reason. she had been found by the a.b.a. to be unanimously well qualified. she had an amazing resume. and she was rejected on a filibuster initiated by the republican side. that is unfortunate. i would just say to my senate republican colleagues, i think that richard cordray has the background and experience to lead this agency. he should be given a chance. i know that the banks aren't happy that anybody is watching them. these financial institutions, payday lenders and the rest would rather do their business without anybody looking over their shoulder. holly petraeus is the wife of general petraeus. she's been working with the consumer financial protection bureau to stop the exploitation of men and women in the military service. she came by my office to talk about what this agency is doing to protect those families. sadly, some of these families ar