paul oetken fits the bill of a mainstream moderate judge. his moderation and modesty were evident during his confirmation hearing and are clear to all who know him. when judges have in their resume practical experience dealing with real-world problems, they tend to understand that a judge cannot simply impose things from on high without understanding the effect of imposing those decrees on average people, average businesses, average governments. when a candidate has these two qualities, excellence and moderation, diversity is a bonus, but in this case, at this moment, paul is not just an excellent candidate. as the first openly gay man to be confirmed as a federal judge and to serve on the federal bench, he will be a symbol of how much we have achieved as a country in just the last few decades. and importantly, he will give hope to many talented young lawyers who until now thought their paths might be limited because of their sexual orientation. when paul becomes judge oetken, he will be living proof to all those young lawyers that it really

paul oetken to be united states district judge for southern district new york. today's vote marks the 28th judicial confirmation this year and i'm pleased that we're moving forward with filling another vacancy. when i became ranking member of the judiciary committee earlier this year, the court had 103 vacancies. i've worked with the chairman and other members of the committee to reduce vacancies by confirming consensus nominees. we have brought the vacancies down now to 89. based upon media stories and other exaggerated statements that i hear from time to time, you would think that the republicans are blocking every judicial nominee. the records show something quite and very different. in total, 60% of the president's judicial nominees have been confirmed. 33% of the nominees have been confirmed during this congress. we continue to achieve great progress in committee. 73% of the judicial nominees submitted this congress have been afforded hearings. only 57% of president bush's nominees had hearings for the comparable time period during his presidency. we've rep

paul oetken to be united states district judge for the southern district of new york. mr. president, if there is no further business to come before the senate, i ask that it adjourn under the previous order. the presiding officer: the senate stands adjourned until senate stands adjourned until >> the library of congress is considered one the greatest photographic resources in the world. we're here in the civil war photograph exhibit. if you were to look at every book in the library, how long could it take? you'll find lots of answers in the c-span original document "the library of congress" airing monday night. we'll tour the jefferson building, great hall, reading room, show treasures found in the rare books and special collections, including the original thomas jefferson library and presidential papers from george washington to thomas coolidge, and the hidden selections and holdings for the future generations. join us for the "library of congress" 8 eastern. look at every photo and spent just one minute on each it will take over 24 years to see them all. >> as debt limit