the clerk: nomination, the judiciary, john thomas fowlkes jr. of tennessee to be united states district judge for the western district of tennessee. mr. leahy: mr. president? the presiding officer: under the previous order, there will be 30 minutes of debate, equally divided in the usual form, sir. mr. leahy: i see the distinguished senior senator from tennessee on the floor and i will make sure that he has plenty of time to speak. if not, i will ask consent for are extra time for him. i am worried, however, and i say this knowing of the strong support of the senator from tennessee for john fowlkes jr., i am concerned that senate republicans are falling through on their opposition -- partisan opposition to the president by seeking to slam the door on consensus nominees who have bipartisan support. and take advantage of the delaying tactics they've been deploying for three and a half years. it may seem like good political partisan sense to try to block president obama at each step of the way on judges but it hurts the american people and all amer