klobuchar: mr.resident. having looked at judge sotomayor's whole record, as senator shaheen pointed out, her 17 years on the bench and the fairness and the integrity that she will bring to the job, i am proud to support her nomination. when judge sotomayor's nomination was first announced, i was impressed by her life story, as was everyone else, which all of us know well by now. she grew up in, in her own words, in modest and challenging circumstances, and she worked hard for everything she got. her dad died when she was nine years old, and her mom supported her and her brother. and one of my favorite images as a member of the judiciary committee from the hearing was her mother sitting behind her every moment of that hearing, never leaving her side. the mother that raised her on a nurse's salary, who saved every penny she had just to buy an encyclopedia britannica for their family. that struck me because i know in our family we also had a set of encyclopedias that had a hallowed place in our hallway

klobuchar: mr.resident. having looked at judge sotomayor's whole record, as senator shaheen pointed out, her 17 years on the bench and the fairness and the integrity that she will bring to the job, i am proud to support her nomination. when judge sotomayor's nomination was first announced, i was impressed by her life story, as was everyone else, which all of us know well by now. she grew up in, in her own words, in modest and challenging circumstances, and she worked hard for everything she got. her dad died when she was nine years old, and her mom supported her and her brother. and one of my favorite images as a member of the judiciary committee from the hearing was her mother sitting behind her every moment of that hearing, never leaving her side. the mother that raised her on a nurse's salary, who saved every penny she had just to buy an encyclopedia britannica for their family. that struck me because i know in our family we also had a set of encyclopedias that had a hallowed place in our hallway

i did watch the segment that you just had with my colleague senator klobuchar. you know, this is the kind of an issue like the g.i. bill that people from across the philosophical spectrum can agree on when it comes to agreeing that there's a problem, but the solution is one that you want everybody on the table participating in. we've had meetings with a hundred different constituent groups from across the philosophical spectrum on this crime issue and that is, quite frankly, the way we have to get this done. we've got 5% of the world's population and 25% of the world's criminal population and people don't feel any safer in their neighborhoods because of so much energy that has gone into enforcement of nonviolent criminal activity so that's not a question in this. the question is how you can get legislation through that will have a meaningful impact on people's lives, whether it's health care or criminal justice or veterans. >> you know, senator, i want to switch gears here for a moment. we have quite a bit of news coming out of iran. we know we have three americ

president and thank you, senter klobuchar -- senator klobuchar.obuchar. >> thank you very much, senator shaheen. >> the center of minnesota is recognized. >> having looked at judge sotomayor's record senter shaheen pointed out, her 17 years on the bench and fairness and integrity she will bring to the job i am proud to support her nomination. when judge sotomayor's nomination was first announced i was impressed by her life story as was everyone else which all of us know by now. she grew up in her own words and modest and challenging circumstances and she worked hard for everything she got. her dad died when she was 9-years-old and her mom supported her and her brother and one of my favorite images as a member of the judiciary committee from the hearing was her mother sitting behind her every moment of that hearing never raising her side, the mother that race for onerous's salary who save every penny she had just to buy an encyclopedia britannica for the family. that struck me, because i know in our family we also had a set of encyclopedias that ha

klobuchar. >> the one that might be used in campaign commercials a year from now might be when senator john mccain, who has a hispanic population of almost 30%, to vote no. that will excite democrats, but again, a fascinating process we're seeing unfolding. again, it's so rare for us to see all senators sitting there quietly, one at a time going through this audible role call. >> there's no way that anyone should minimize this historic moment on the senate floor that we are watching as the full chamber, as you pointed out, voting on the nomination of judge sotomayor. again, judge sotomayor is on her way to becoming the first hispanic on the nation's top court. joining us to talk about the significance not only as a female, but as what many have called a moderate judge on this panel. dan abrams as well as dr. juan andrade, with us. thank you for joining us. dr. andrade, i'll start with you because obviously, much is made with race in this, from the time the debate started and here we are at this great moment in our country's history. put it in perspective as we are all aware she's going

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i'm delighted to be here to join the senior senator from minnesota, senator klobuchar, and to speak alsoenior senator from vermont, my neighbor, senator leahy, in support of sonia sotomayor. this week we have the opportunity to make history. to make history by confirming the first hispanic and only the third woman to the united states supreme court, and senator klobuchar spoke eloquently about the challenges women have faced and i'm pleased to say i have the honor as governor of appointing the first woman to the new hampshire supreme court. and i come today to the floor to speak in support of sonia sotomayor's nomination. however not because of the historic nature of the nomination but because she is more than qualified to sit on the supreme court, and i am somewhat perplexed by white vote on her nomination will not be unanimous. judge sotomayor is immensely qualified. the nonpartisan american bar association standing committee on the federal judiciary which has evaluated the professional qualifications of nominees to the federal bench since 1948 unanimously, unanimously rated sotomayor

i appreciate the comments and senator kauffman -- no, senator klobuchar. i apologize, former prosecutor before she came here as was senator whitehouse. please go ahead. >> thank you very much, mr. chairman. and i wanted to thank you and the ranking member for holding such a civil and dignified hearing. i had a few people say that it got boring at times and maybe that is a tribute that it was a civil and dignified hearing. like many of my colleagues i have been so impressed by judge sotomayor. like senator durbin, i most remember her mother sitting behind her, that mother who when the father died at age 9, judge sotomayor was raised by that mother who had hardly any money and nurse, saved all her money to buy their family encyclopedia britannicas. and when you watch that family and her brother it reminded you that judge sotomayor knows the law and she knows the constitution but she also knows america. one experience of hers in particular resonates with me and that is immediately after graduating from law school, that she became a prosecutor. and i believe t

. >> senator klobuchar? >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> another former prosecutor. >> that's right and i know paul and sheila wellstone are looking down on us. this was their passion and some of it came from paul's fighting for anyone that didn't get the best luck in life or was the most vulnerable and she literally took this on in an amazing way. i still remember her arriving in washington with her frizzy hair eight years later and she was an amazing advocate for this nationally and part of that advocacy actually came out of the work in minnesota. i was a prosecutor for eight years. the head of that office. and our domestic abuse center really was a model for the country, a one-stop shop where there was a daycare from and there was a place for police and prosecutors and restraining orders signed and everything instead of having to go through a bureaucratic maze of red tape which even lawyers couldn't figure out. this is something near and dear to my heart. i'm proud of the work i've done and the work that's been nationally si

president and thank you senator klobuchar. >> i yield back the floor to senator klobuchar. >> thank you very much, senator shaheen -- >> the center of minnesota is recognized. >> having looked at sonia sotomayor's record senator shaheen pointed out for 17 years on the bench and fairness and integrity she will bring to the job i'm proud to support her nomination. when judge sotomayor's nomination was announced i was impressed with her story as was everyone else which all of us know by now. she grew up in her own words and modest and challenging the circumstances and worked hard for everything she got. her dad died when she was 9-years-old, and her mom support her and her brother. and one of my favorite images as a member of the judiciary committee was her mother sitting behind her every moment of the hearing never leaving her sight. the mother that raised her on a nurse's salary who save every penny just to buy an encyclopedia britannica for their family. that struck me mr. president because i know in our family we also had a set of encyclopedias that had a hallowed place in the hallway

. >> senator klobuchar for 5 minutes. >> thank you, madam chair. it looks like we have a little stability here. and look forward to asking questions of you. we know that we are not out of this. this will not turn around overnight. the fact is, being in minnesota, there have been signs i have seen -- we have a 20% increase in home sales in our state. i met with the realtors in minnesota and they attribute a lot of that to the $8,000 first time buyer tax credit. when i was going to get coffee, this guy was standing next to me in line and told me that he is overwhelmed by work. he says, i move people. i have moved people out of apartments when they bought their first time home. we have seen in my state some of the effects of it. the cash for clunkers program -- our state of minnesota was fourth in the country of the number of people who used to that program over that weekend. it was over california and michigan. i think you can see people are starting to believe that the economy is reflecting the numbers we have seen. that is not enough. we're still n

thank you very much. >> thank you, senator klobuchar. we will be joined shortly by at least a couple of other colleagues it looks like. and maybe even more than that, depending on who is able to get away from their other committee obligations. but i would like to do now go through the panel, i'm going to take a little bit out of order since we have a statewide elected official here. i want to recognize general koster first and give them five minutes to make his opening and then i will come back to you, mr. vladeck, and go down the line. >> thank you, mr. chairman and members of the committee. i will focus my comments today on what we are seeing in missouri of particular interest and threats to our citizens. and the threat is this. companies and individuals who specialize in servicing, or preying upon consumers who have a significant credit card debt or unsustainable mortgage are running amok in our state. foreclosure consultants and debt settlement firms claim to consumers that they can cut principle in half, reduce monthly payments by h

. >> thank you very much, senator klobuchar, and next senator kaufman. >> mr. chairman, i would like to begin by others have commended you and the ranking member on running an excellent hearing, a fair hearing. >> thank you. >> and everyone had a chance to speak. everyone had a chance to ask questions, and it was just very, very well-run. >> thank you. >> judge sotomayor is an outstanding nom she. she has the superior intellect, broad experience, superb judge and unquestioned integrity. she would be a terrific choice at any time, but given our current economic crisis and the likely role of the court in reviewing legislative responses to that crisis i submit that she's the ideal nominee at this time. one thing we've learned over the last two years is that we must reform our financial markets. judge sotomayor's extensive experience as a commercial litigator, business lawyer, judge in base cases and the passion for the law that she has demonstrated throughout her career suggests that she will be a leader on the court in business and regulatory issues at a time whe

. >> senator klobuchar for five minutes. >> thank you very much, madam chair, and thank you for beingre today. it does seem like we have just a little stability going here, and i'm looking forward to asking questions of all of you to see what this means, as i heard representative cummings so well say that, in fact, we know we're not out of this. this isn't going to turn around overnight, that we still have incredible challenges for the people of the country, but the fact is that i will say, being in minnesota for the last off and on for the last few weeks, there are some signs i've seen. we have a 20% increase in home sales of our state from june of last year to june of this year. i met with the realtors in minnesota and they attribute that to the $8,000 first time home buyers tax credit. nearly half of these home sales were first time home buyer and there's the anecdotes, when i was going to get some coffee and this guy was standing next to me in line and he's overwhelmed by work. i said what do you do? he says i move people. i move people out of apartment buildings because they're b

i want to thank everybody here, and i see senator franken, kaufman, senator klobuchar, senator feinstein senator murray, senator white house, and of course, senator durbin. i really appreciate the members of the judiciary committee who sat through all of these hearings and worked hard on them, and if anybody has any questions, this chairmen, is a very happy day. >> i would like to hear senator schumer and senator menendez on the political question of whether such a large number of republicans voted no will in fact her to the gop. one expert has said that he considers this a bellwether. >> i will let others speak to the political aspect, but i cannot help but think as i listened to the hearings, and i have been here for hearings on every single member of the supreme court, including two who are no longer there -- if she had been nominated by a republican president, she would have won virtually every vote in body, republican and democratic alike. this was, i felt, the wrong vote, those who voted no. >> let me just say that today is a day of celebration. i will say this -- for the hispanic