mr. lugar was approved by the committee. it is time we do the right thing bhaiking sure that minnesota has its highest law enforcement officer? place. i want to thank senator grassley for his help on this. he actually also has a u.s. attorney that's pending for the district of iowa. so why is a u.s. attorney important? i thought our pages would be interested in this fact, because we're going to be talking a lot about a u.s. attorney over the next week, if this keeps going on. the position of u.s. attorney is a law enforcement post that the founders regarded as so vital that they created it during the very first congress during the judiciary of 1789. this is the same act that created the attorney general and the structure of the supreme court and the lower courts. according to the act, each judicial district would be provided with -- quote -- "a person learned in the law to act as attorney for the united states whose duty it shall be to prosecute in each district all delinquents for crimes and o

mr. lugar's nomination. the position of u.s. attorney, madam president, is a law enforcement post that the founders regarded as so vital that they created it during the very first congress in the judiciary act of 1789. this is the same act that created the attorney general and the structure of the supreme court and lower courts. according to the act, each judicial district would be provided with -- quote -- "a person learn he haded in the law to act as attorney for the united states whose duty it shall be to prosecute in each district all delinquents for crimes and offenses cognizable under the authority of the united states and all civil being as in which the united states shall be concerned. the u.s. attorney is a position so necessary, madam president, that president zachary taylor appointed hengery moss, a name somewhat lost in history, to the post within two days of minnesota becoming a state. m two days. now minnesota, as i not noted, s been waiting for a full-time u.s. to enfor two and a half years. i know my colleagues u

mr. lugar's nomination not just to the committee but to the floor. senator grassley is in a similar situation because his u.s. attorney for the northern district of iowa was nominated on the same day and is also awaiting confirmation on the floor. they have both come through the judiciary committee without any objection. so why is this important? well, i ran a prosecutor's office of about 400 people for eight years. we worked directly with the u.s. attorney's office. we were there when during 9/11, when the u.s. attorney's office in minnesota was dealing with the massawi case. we worked hand in hand. we took a number of their white-collar cases and i've been able to witness firsthand how day in tkaeupbd out you need a -- day in and day out you need a u.s. attorney to make difficult decisions. without a full time u.s. attorney it is difficult to decide where to put limited resources in terms of strategic decisions we have not had that person in place for 888 days. protecting our nation from terrorists is a top concern for all of us. you might not thin

mr. lugar's nomination. he is a dedicated public servant whose breadth of experience, strength of character and commitment to justice makes him a well-qualified candidate. no one has questioned that, mr. president. no one has even shed any doubt on his qualifications to have this job. that is not the issue here. oftentimes that is an issue with nominees. that is not the issue here. the issue is that we simply, as we have in the past, have allowed a voice vote on these kinds of nominations. they have gone through average of eight days coming out of committee for the district of minnesota, first u.s. attorney from minnesota two days. this in fact now we wait 890 days. mr. president, it's time to get this done. i yield the floor. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: quorum call: quorum call: mr. reid: i ask unanimous consent the call of the quorum be terminated. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid:: i now ask for regular order. the pr

mr. todd. >> when it comes to the roberts story, again, they said they didn't want to be lugar, they seemed concerned -- what was interesting about the reporting, this seems to be an issue they were worried about. >> yeah, what's fascinating is they're now saying he doesn't, in fact, own a property in dodge city. but that was the property that he has, according to his senate financial forms, listed as a rental income, meaning that someone has been living there for the last ten years. >> right. >> and they recognized that would be a problem for them in this campaign with the tee party challenger, so last fall he got a new driver's license and changed his voting address to the home of ross, longtime friends, donors of his in dodge city. so it's fascinating that now they're going back to the place that he rents out to say that -- so they thought -- that's his residence -- >> they thought the residency issue -- [ overlapping speakers ] >> -- they thought they were fixing the lugar issue that at least for ten years he has rented out to a room in the home of donors. and that to me is the conundrum in this