mr. bress comes with strong credentials, the academic pedigree, the legal experience, and most importantly, a demonstrated commitment to the rule of law. so i'm glad we voted to advance his nomination yesterday and i would urge all of my colleagues to vote to confirm him later today. next we'll consider three district nominees, t. kent weatherle -- wetherell to the northern district of florida, damon leichty and ranjan and then we will vote on robert king to be assistant secretary of education and john pal ashe and peter wright. the president has called on them to serve in these important roles. the senate will give them the consideration and confirmations that they deserve. on another matter, fourth of july weren't the only things for american families to smile about last week. we received more positive news about the strong u.s. economy that american workers and job creators are building with a big assist from republican policies. more than 200,000 new jobs were created in june alone. the eco

mrs. feinstein: i understand the procedure. are we in morning business? the presiding officer: we're postcloture on the bress nomination. mrs.nstein: well, i would ask unanimous consent to speak on are

liar and how he proudly stood up to the soviet union in the days -- i guess in the wake of bress -- of the past. mr. president, you don't need x-ray vision to know about the discussion the majority leader launched. this week the director of national security resigned in frustration -- frustration that his boss, the president of the united states, has chosen to believe russia instead of his own intelligence officials. that one of the -- in one of the most embarrassing moments of my lifetime when the president of the united states stood next to the dictator of russia that he believed in putin and not in his own intelligence officials and the consensus of his intelligence officials when it comes to influencing our elections -- our 2016 elections. so i hear the -- the majority leader has an acute sense of history and his place in it. i'm hopeful that the majority leader, using his knowledge of history, understands the influence that russia continues to have in our country and on our elections in this body, actually address that instead of denying -- denying the obvious. mr. president, i ask that the en

mr. bress. this is a california seat on the ninth circuit, and the fact is that mr. bress is neither a california attorney nor a california resident. in fact, he's not been a resident of the state for over a decade. he's lived and practiced in the washington, d.c., area for almost his entire adult life. as california senators, senator harris and i know that the kind of experience and connection to california is really necessary for a ninth circuit judge to be effective on the bench. we know our state, we know our constituents, and we know the challenges they face, and that's why the blue slip is so important. honoring the blue slip ensures that the senators who understand are -- and are accountable to their constituents have a say in judicial nominations for their home states. our blue slips, senator harris' and mine, were not returned. ultimately that symbolizes our objections. i was very disappointed that the white house ignored that and moved forward with mr. bress's nomination. senator harr