miss millett is seeking the ninth seat. i also want to point out the senate had already voted to confirm a nominee to be the 11th judge on that circuit, thomas griffith just one year before this 2006 letter. i voted for mr. griffith on the floor. the bottom line is that these judicial vacancies currently exist. it's the president's job to nominate qualified men and women to change them and there is no question that the president's nominee for this position, patricia millett, is one of the most well qualified persons that he could have found to fill this important position. no one comes forward to criticize her background and her resume because, frankly, it's hard to find a nominee with any stronger credentials for the federal bench. let's not play political games with this important nomination nor with people like patricia millett who put their names forward, have gone through this process, waited for us politicians to work our will on the floor. she deserves a vote, an up-or-down vote. and without objection, i'd like to ha

millett is no doubt a fine person. this is nothing personal. peter keisler, of course, is a fine person too. but our democratic colleagues pocket filibustered his nomination to the d.c. circuit for two years -- two years -- on the browned that -- on the groud that the court's workload did not warrant his confirmation. they did so despite his considerable skill as a lawyer and his personal qualities. his nomination languished until the end of the bush administration. he waited almost 1,000 days for a vote that never came. the criteria our democratic friends cited to block mr. keisler's nomination then clearly show that the court is even less busy now. for example, the seat to which ms. millett is nominated is not a judicial emergency. far, far from it. the number of appeals that the court is down almost 20%. and the written decisions per active judge are down 30%. in addition to these metrics, the d.c. circuit has provided another. the chief judge of the court who is appointed to the bench by president clinton provided analysis showing oral argu

patricia millett is being treefted differently than john roberts was. it is an fair. iit is not an extraordinary circumstance much floss justification for it. mr. grassley: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from iowa. mr. grassley: what that doesn't take into consideration is that there are six senior status judges on this court. the chief judge told us that their workload is the equivalent of 3-1.4 judges so presently there are enough judges this ato go around. eight judges now plus the 3.5 that have -- or 3.25 that have senior status. there's plenty of reason not to fill anymore seats on this court. the presiding officer: by unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. the question is, is it the sense of the senate that debate on the nomination of patricia millett of virginia to be united states circuit judge for the district of columbia circuit shall be brought to a close? the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: the presiding officer: have all senators present voted or does any sen

millett is confirmed, the d.c. circuit will still have more pending appeals per active judge than after the confirmations of any of those four earlier bush nominees. the caseload on the d.c. circuit would also remain above that of the current tenth and sixth circuit to which the senate has confirmed judicial appointed nominees this year. in filibuster of ms. millett on caseload grounds would bring the senate to an unprecedented and regrettable place t would destroy comity and trust at a time when our nation needs it bhorks we need to demonstrate to the meme of the united states that this congress can function understand that this senate can fulfill its constitutional role. it would not just facilitate the administration of justice by our courts but also allow us to tackle other issues if we could move past endless and needless filibusters on ires like this, it would allow us to move forward to the broader issues of the day, tackling long-term debt and deficit chacialtion reinvesting in our future, working together

patricia millett has had a brilliant legal career. she's argued 32 cases before the supreme court. actually holding the record until recently for the most supreme court arguments by a woman attorney before the court. she's argued dozens of cases in the federal courts of appeals. she's briefed new mexico qiews rust cases in the supreme court and also appellate courts across the nation. she served for 15 years in the u.s. department of justice in both the democratic and republican administrations. she worked for four years in the appellate staff of the civil division. she argued cases in federal and state appellate courts. including the successful constitutional defense of the religious freedom restoration act and the inclusion of the in god we trust on federal currency. she spent over a decade in the solicitor general's office. her stellar reputation led a bipartisan -- a bipartisan group of seven former solicitors general to praise her as unfailingly fair-minded. in 2004, republican attorney general john ashcroft awarded ms. millet the attorney general's distinguished service award

when we talk about a woman by the name of patricia millett. been chosen by the president to be a nominee to serve on the d.c. court of appeals. she graduated the top of her class from the university of illinois and then attended harvard law school. she clerked for the ninth circuit court of appeals and served as an appellate toirn attorney in the civil with division. she served as assistant solicitor under democratic president bill clinton and republican president george w. bush. ms. millet was chosen to lead the supreme court practice at the prestigious law firm of akin-gas pump and has argued 3 cases before the united states supreme court. this is stunning. it's a number that rarely anyone ever reaches. i'm sure others have reached this number but the two that come to my mind are the chief justice of the supreme court who argued many cases and a longtime friend, the late rex lee, solicitor general during president reagan, during his tenure as solicitor general and prior to that and after that he argued many, many cases but 3 arguments before

-- block janet yellin for fed chair, jeh johnson for secretary of homeland security and patricia millette seated on the d.c. circuit court, the second most important court in the country. this is happening at the same time the deficit, which is arguably the thing the tea party is worried most about is at the lowest it has been in five years. at 2013, $680.3 billion. is that cause for them to maybe relax a little on this? not at all. absolutist, dogmatic platform they are on. >> absolutely. it has become their ultimate political strategy to stop government from doing anything effective. it doesn't matter they are part of government, sort of shredding their own nest. if the president were able to confirm nominees, have the d.c. circuit actually function, to have a fed chair, right, at a time when the fed is the only piece of the government that's actually still able to do anything for the fact we saw the joblessness crisis in this country, they would be losing on their short-term, i completely agree with you, jonathan, political strategy. until we can see some sense of accountability, i thi

the senate also blocked patrigsa millett to be a judge. the senate is back shortly, 2:00 p.m. eastern. you can follow that on c-span 2. up next we'll take you back to the commerce summits, the investment summit at the commerce department from earlier today. black rock c.e.o. said the u.s. is well positioned to attract business investment. but he criticized washington citing the recent dispute over raising the debt ceiling. and shutting down the government. also on this panel, the c.e.o.'s of wal-mart, u.s. and dow chemical. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. secretary lew, secretary pritzker, thank you so much for your very excellent remarks. and i want to thank both of them for their leadership. they have been outstanding, particularly for the subject matter that we have before us these next two days. i know that their insights, particularly as it applies to the business community, are very valuable to all of us that are joining us today. we're off to a great start to what promises to be a great conference with a packed agenda. thanks to all of you who have come great dist

patricia millett has been nominated for the federal appeals court in washington d.c. action left both nominees short of the 60 votes needed for confirmation. wall street had a down day. the dow jones industrial average lost 73 points to close at 15,545. the nasdaq fell nearly 11 points to close at 3,919. and in boston, red sox fans are pointing toward a saturday parade to celebrate their latest world series win. the sox beat the st. louis cardinals last night, to take the title in six games. jeffrey brown will have more on the red sox's victory later in the program. also ahead on the "newshour": outrage over the n.s.a. tapping into servers for google and yahoo, plus spying on asia; dismantling syria's chemical weapons program; the recent wave of violence in iraq; senator susan collins on the future of the republican party and abraham lincoln's foreign policy. >> ifill: newly published information leaked by former nsa contractor edward snowden is reinforcing the notion that u.s. spying spreads wide and goes deep. the latest bombshell, partly denied by the obama adminis

today the senate, members what denomination of mel watt to become federal finance agency and patricia millett to the d.c. circuit court. there is more about that now. >> joining us from capitol hill he covers congress for cq rollcall. your article this afternoon says the nomination wars are officially back. what happened on the senate floor today? >> guest: well, what happened this afternoon is that there were two president obama's nomination, both congressman mel watt to head up the federal financing regulator as well as a federal appeals court judge for the district of colombia circuit, who both based being blocked by the senate thanks to a republican-led filibuster of each nominee. each nominee failed to get the 60 votes required to advance with just a couple of republicans in each case voting yes on the motion to limit debate. >> host: tell us about mel watt's nomination. democratic representative from north carolina, obama figured capitol hill. how much support did it have on the president made the nomination and going into today's procedural vote? >> guest: well, there was a lot of supp

miss millett is a proud daughter of illinois. she grew up in marine, illinois, a small town in madison county that i know well. her mother was a nurse. her father was a history professor at southern illinois university et wardsville, one -- edwardsville, one of my favorite campuses. miss millett graduated summa cum laude from the university of illinois, magna cum laude from harvard law school. in addition to all this, she is part of a proud military family. her husband, robert king, served in the navy and was deployed as part of operation iraqi freedom. miss millett comes from a high highly -- comes highly recommended by many distinguished members of the illinois legal community. i received a letter from patrick fitzgerald, the former u.s. attorney for the northern district of illinois, expressing strong support for miss millett's nomination and urging prompt consideration of her candidacy on the merits. i also received a letter from 28 prominent attorneys, including former illinois governor -- republican governor, james thompson

patty millett has extensive experience. she previously served 15 years as an attorney in the appellate staff of the u.s. department of justice civil division and then as an assistant to the solicitor general. she has argued 32 cases in the supreme court, 32. in addition to dozens of cases in other appellate courts across the country. in addition to her work for the justice department and in private practice, she has also devoted substantial time to pro bono work. ms. millett clearly has an impressive professional background but even outside the legal world she volunteers as a literacy tutor. she was given the attorney general's distinguished service award for representing the interests of the united states before the supreme court. and the national association of attorney generals award for snarns to the states in preparation for their appearance before the supreme court. she is the kind of woman that we should have on the beth. it should be no surprise that the nonpartisan american bar association committee that reviews ev

rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of patricia ann millett of virginia to be district judge for the united states circuit of virginia. signed by 17 senators. mr. reid: i ask the reading of the names be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask the mandatorytory quorum under rule 22 be waived. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i now move to proceed to legislative session. the presiding officer: the question is on the motion. all in favor say aye. all opposed say nay. the ayes appear to have it. the motion is agreed to. mr. reid: i would suggest the absence of a quorum. the presidingthe presiding offik will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: mr. reid: madam president? the presiding officer: the majority leader. mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent the cloture vote scheduled at 5:30 p.m. be scheduled on tuesday at a time determined by me in consultation with senator mcconnel