the american judiciary is in trouble. that's why they are having this meeting today. the united states supreme court needs nine justices. not eight, not seven, nine. the cousin senate republicans refusal to consider senior judge on a d.c. circuit, the second most influential court in the land, merrick garland. the court is in trouble. ov were talking about one person that has so much control overoe what goes on in the supreme court. that person's not there. in recent weeks they were deadlocked on many important cases. : and questions before it. for example, the day before yesterday the justice punted on two more cases, demanding both to lower courts. these actions were clear indications that the court was tied 4-4. and to the wisdom of the people that are on that the court, they decided it would be better, since they couldn't arrive at a decision, to send it back to the lower courts to see if they could help work out the problems. not having nine justices is a serious problem. as was written yesterday in "the new york times" editorial, i quote, "every day that passes w

the rights of minorities. that's what independent legislature and judiciary is designed to do. and i think we all know that this independence of the american judiciary has been one of the great hallmarks of american democracy. in my view, the blockade of the carla nomination undermines this independence. composi the judiciary act of a consistent such the composition of the court at nine justices with life tenure and that statute has remained in force for 150 years. when president franklin roosevelt did not like certain rulings of the supreme court in the 1930s, he tried to expand the court and elbow out older justices by proposing a forced retirement age, and an expansion of the numbers in the judiciary 1869. everybody understood that fdr's actions were an attempt to attack the independence of the judicial branch. and so congressional leaders of both parties stood up to stop it. i think this current blockade is the legislative equivalent of what president roosevelt tried to do. refusing to consider an obama ct nomination in order toear is artificially maintain a court vacancy for more than a year is as much an attack on the judiciary as tr

without confirmation a of a ninth justice to the supreme court is another lost day for the federal judiciary and american justice. republicans claim their obstruction of president obama's supreme court nominee is to give the people a voice. but their actions are doing just the opposite. republicans are denying the american people the justice they deserve. take, for example, the cases they referred back to lower courts. they have already done it. and the litigants have waited years to get before the supreme court. now in effect they have to start over. republicans are denying the american people the justice they deserve, the justice that we thought was guaranteed by the constitution. so instead of silencing the supreme court and gridlocking our entire judicial system, republicans should give the court the ninth justice it desperately needs. now, focus has been on the supreme court, and it should be, but the republicans are doing the same thing with trial court judges. the federal judiciary has many, many

the federal judiciary's credibility. the trust and confidence of the american people in the authority of our judiciary. and its authoy depends on it being politics. what the senate alas is doing is dragging the united states supreme court into the muck of partisan bickering. brown v. board of education became the law of the land because of the united states supreme court's credibility. the supreme court had no police force to enforce it. it had no armies or mandatory physical force. it had its credibility and its authority, its moral authority because it was above politics in the minds of most americans, and that is the reason that president eisenhower was able to do what he succeeded in enforcing at little rock and presidents afterward have done similarly. most importantly, i hope we all take time today to reflect on the importance of the brown decision and recognize the grip and courage of the men and women who fought to end school segregation only 62 years ago. the best way of honoring their legacy is to do our job and our duty constitutionally, to fulfill that duty and their legacy by considering j

scheduled to expire at the end of 2017 it allows for mass surveillance of overseas electronic surveillance and communications including surveillance of american citizens. the senate judiciary committee held a hearing on the law and whether it should be ready. civil liberties advocates testified at this two-hour hearing. berties advocate testified at this to our hearing. [inaudible] [inaudible] >> today i'm going to introduce some witnesses first and then i will make my opening statement. i think senator leahy is on his way and i would like him to make his opening statement before he received testimony from the witnesses. our first witness is kenneth wayne steen, he is up partner. [inaudible] where he serves as chair of the firm's white-collar defense and investigative group. before that he worked for the 19 years at the department of justice including serving as u.s. attorney for d.c. in the first citizen attorney general for national security. he concluded concluded his government service in 2008 serving as a homeland security advisor to george w. in that capacity he coordinated the nation's counterterrorism infrastructure and disaster response and recovery efforts. he ha

we, the american people, know the need to do something about the judiciary. republicans should do their official and the washington d.c. police officer at this house judiciary subcommittee hearing. >> the crime terrorism, security and investigation subcommittee will come to order. we welcome everyone to this morning's hearing on synthetic drugs and i will begin by recognizing myself for not putting statement. last week the house took significant steps to forward, steps forward and combating the opioid epidemic in america. today the subcommittee will examine important issue the scourge of synthetic drugs in the united states. simply put synthetic drugs are a prime example of how criminals can stay one step ahead of law enforcement. today parents have to worry not only about a child's exposure to illegal drugs but about synthetic drugs many of which are produced and marketed directly at children and young adults. synthetic cannabinoids with names like spice k. tour scooby snacks, and brightly packaging that make them attractive to teenager marketed and sold as

liberties groups of asked, and just last month 14 members of the house judiciary committee asked for an estimate of the number of americans affected but thus far no one has received a satisfying answer. is it possible for the government to provide an exact count of how many united states persons have been swept up in section 702 surveillance and if not the exact count comeau what about an estimate? >> it would be difficult to provide an exact count with any accuracy, and i do not think anyone has asked for that. they asked for an estimate. that should be possible. with apossible. with a couple programs it should be straightforward. with prism it is trickier, but that is why there is an offer to work with the intelligence community to try to find a privacy protected way of generating estimates. it is vital because i hear public statements over and over that this program is targeted of foreigners and that the collection is incidental. these are terms of art with specific legal meanings, but most americans are not lawyers. they willwere reasonably assume americans communications, not many are collected. having this estimate

the urgency of moving this reauthorization forward and then worked diligently to advance it. it's just another example of his efforts to put the judiciary committee to work for the american people. under a new chairman, the judiciary committee has reported out some 30 bills and has seen more than a dozen signed into law. time and time again, the committee has taken on important issues and worked toward real solutions for our country. we saw a great example of that recently with chairman grassley's efforts to help combat the heroin and prescription opioid epidemic that's hurting so many communities across our country. states like mine have been especially impacted by this drug crisis. i pressured the stead -- appreciated the steadfast commitment of colleagues like senator grassley along with senators like portman and ayotte to address the issue and ensure senate passage of the comprehensive addiction and recovery act. chairman grassley has worked hard to pass other pieces of legislation as well like a law to protect american innovation in the 21st century, for instance, and the justice for victims of trafficking act that i mentioned earlier. without chairman grassley's commitmen

the american people. i want to thank the finance and judiciary committee chairmen for their efforts to advance that's ll, just as i want to thank senators burr, portman, toomey and flake for their diligent work to help support american businesses and the economy through their efforts to pass the act. and now on one final matter, president obama recently bragged to "the new york times" magazine about his performance on the economy. he boasted about his economic legacy and actually claimed that by his estimation the administration managed the economic recovery better than any peer economy facing a financial crisis -- quote -- "-- now listen to this -- on earth, "in modern history." that's a quote to remember. the same day this story hit, the bureau of economic analysis released its first quarter report showing .5% economic growth. it's the latest reminder of the actual economy that americans are forced to confront day in and day out. president obama has presided over the worst economic recovery since world war ii. growth is anemic, wages are stagnant for too many, poverty is up for too many, jobs are scarce

the senate intelligence committee have asked for a number of americans affected. civil society and civil liberties groups have asked for the number. last month 14 members of the house judiciary committee asked for just an estimate of the number of americans affected but thus far, no one has received a satisfying answer. ms. goitein, is it possible for the government to provide an exact count of how many united states persons have been swept up in section 702 surveillance, and if not, the exact count, what about an estimate? >> i think it would be very difficult to provide an exact count with any accuracy at all. i don't think anyone has asked for that. senator widen initially asked for an estimate. i think i heard him use the word ball park at one point. that should be possible. with a couple of programs, it should be fairly straightforward. there's -- it's a little trickier that's why the civil liberties community has offered to work with the intelligence committee to try to find a privacy protected way of generating an estimate. it should be possible, and i think it's vital. i hear public statements by officials over and over that this program is targeted at foreigners and

we're seeing when we have this kind of obstruction preventing the confirmation of judges who have come through the judiciary committee. the american people have some fundamental basic rights here. one of those rights, i believe, is the right to expect that their courts are working with a full complement of judges. president obama has seen just 17 judges confirmed in the last two years of his presidency so far. i know we're still in the midst of those two years, but 17 judges to date in the last 18 months roughly compared to 68 when democrats controlled the senate the last years of president bush's administration. we've seen the same obstruction at all levels of the court system. we know that, for example, the chief judge of the district of columbia court of appeals, judge merrick garland, has in fact been completely obstructed, not even getting a hearing, not even getting a vote of any kind. that might be the most glaring and egregious example of obstruction. so i hope our republicans colleagues would -- would -- when it comes to judge garland and his consideration for -- to be a member of the supreme court, i hope our republican

the full committee chairman mr. goodlatte of virginia for his opening statement. >> thank you mr. chairman. i'm pleased to be here as the judiciary committee continues his efforts to protect the american people from the real and growing danger of drug abuse last week's committee moved five bills to the house that will help law enforcement and the treatment community address the opioid epidemic so this hearing is very timely. i want to focus my remarks today on the threat of synthetic opioids which present a critical threat to the american people. as we all know the principle driver of the opioid epidemic in this nation has been the overabundance of prescription pain pills in the hands of consumers, especially opioids like oxycodone and hydrocodone. america's addiction to opioids have of course been noticed in the criminal underworld and malefactors have taken big steps to profit off america's pain. one way they have done this is through of synthetic opioids including counterfeit description medications laced with fentanyl and fentanyl derivatives. for those who've been paying attention fentanyl is an opioid pain medication which can be 100 times more powerful than morphine. to put tha

the full committee chairman mr. goodlatte of virginia for his opening statement. >> thank you mr. chairman. i'm pleased to be here as the judiciary committee continues his efforts to protect the american people from the real and growing danger of drug abuse last week's committee moved five bills to the house that will help law enforcement and the treatment community address the opioid epidemic so this hearing is very timely. i want to focus my remarks today on the threat of synthetic opioids which present a critical threat to the american people. as we all know the principle driver of the opioid epidemic in this nation has been the overabundance of prescription pain pills in the hands of consumers, especially opioids like oxycodone and hydrocodone. america's addiction to opioids have of course been noticed in the criminal underworld and malefactors have taken big steps to profit off america's pain. one way they have done this is through of synthetic opioids including counterfeit description medications laced with fentanyl and fentanyl derivatives. for those who've been paying attention fentanyl is an opioid pain medication which can be 100 times more powerful than morphine. to put tha

the fisa court and intelligence and judiciary committees of congress. in addition to providing this authority in prescribing oversight, faa awful also the protections of american persons by imposing for the very first time, the requirement requirement that the government obtain individualized order from the fisa court one of the for it undertakes surveillance of a u.s. person. in some ways it was a very well calibrated piece of legislation. he provided the government with the authority it needed but did so in a careful eye on the importance of oversight and on the privacy rights of u.s. persons. since its implementation, faa authorized authorized surveillance has been critical in detecting an understanding that threats we face. that is the case when eyes reviewing faa reporting is homeland security advisory 2008. it is still the case today, as you the case today, as you know from your briefing the other day. partly, besides being implement it effectively it has been implemented responsibly by evidence of the findings that have been no known incidents of intentional misuse of that authority. in supporting reauthorization i ask you to support the vital importanc

liberties groups of asked, and just last month 14 members of the house judiciary committee asked for an estimate of the number of americans affected but thus far no one has received a satisfying answer. is it possible for the government to provide an exact count of how many united states persons have been swept up in section 702 surveillance and if not the exact count comeau what about an estimate? >> it would be difficult to provide an exact count with any accuracy, and i do not think anyone has asked for that. they asked for an estimate. that should be possible. with apossible. with a couple programs it should be straightforward. with prism it is trickier, but that is why there is an offer to work with the intelligence community to try to find a privacy protected way of generating estimates. it is vital because i hear public statements over and over that this program is targeted of foreigners and that the collection is incidental. these are terms of art with specific legal meanings, but most americans are not lawyers. they willwere reasonably assume americans communications, not many are collected. having this estimate

american and pacific islander members of congress, which is a historic high. we have also seen these numbers reflected in the diversity of our federal work force, as well as in the federal judiciary where we have more than tripled the number of asian pacific american judges serving on the federal bench. this includes the historic nomination of rivassin to the u.s. district court of appeals which is notable because it is the court from which many u.s. supreme court justices have risen. and we know that it is only a matter of time before we have our first asian american supreme court justice. in addition to working to diversify our federal work look for the apac priorities and concerns of asian american citizens on a broad range of issues. from combating racial profiling, to keeping immigrant families together through comprehensive immigration reform, to ensuring that all americans can access the ballot box and have a voice in our democracy. today far too many in the asian pacific american community are being profiled because of the way they look or the religion they practice. and whether they are chinese americans being singled out for economic esponage, or muslim or sikh american

in addition to that bill, the house passed four other judiciary committee bills this week to address drug abuse and protect americanple. h.r. 5052, the open act, increases the transparency and accountability of the comprehensive opioid abuse grant program in h.r. 5046, by requiring grantees to report on the use of grant funds and requiring a publicly available analysis of whether the grants have achieved their intended purposes. h.r. 4985, the kingpin designation improvement act, protects classified information from disclosure when a drug kingpin challenges his designation as such in a federal court. h.r. 5048, the good samaritan assessment act, requires the g.a.o. to study state and local good samaritan laws that protect caregivers, law enforcement personnel, and first responders who administer opioid overdose reversal drugs or devices from criminal or civil liability, as well as those who contact emergency service providers in response to an overdose. finally, s. 32, the transnational drug trafficking act, improves law enforcement's ability to pursue international drug manufacturers, brokers, and distributors in

the majority of those overdoses involve prescription medications. in 2012, health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions for opioid pain medications, enough for every american adult to have a bottle of pills. in 2010, the house judiciary and energy and commerce committees shepherded through congress the secure and responsible drug disposal act, which amended the controlled substances act, to allow patients to return unused or expired prescription drugs to local pharmacies, police stations and community drug disposal programs. that same year, the drug enforcement administration began hosting national prescription drug takeback events. at the previous 10 tackback day events, over 4.4 million pounds of unwanted, unneeded or expireded medications were surrendered for safe and proper disposal. on april 27 i was pleased to host along with appropriations chairman rogers a drug takeback event here on capitol hill. at this year's national takeback day, americans disposed more unused prescription drugs than during the previous 10 events. state, local, tribal agencies collected 893,498 pounds of nwanted medicines, about 447 tons, at almost 5,400 sites spread through all 50 states, surpassing the previous high of 390 tons in the

the government oversight and reform committee and its chairman, jason chaffetz p. chairman toldhe the judiciary committee. >> the irs targeting scandal was un-american.he most powerful and feared entity in the united states, the first him and meant rights of citizens were trampled upon. the chairman was not there for the initial targeting. he worked hand-in-hand with congress to fix the problem. she did not fix the problem, he made it worse. compliance with the subpoena is not optional. dividing posttest money comes providingsequence -- false testimony comes with a consequence. he could have prevented evidence from being destroyed, but he did not. americans are rightfully frustrated about the targeting scandal and the lack of accountability. the case before us is about mr. koskenin. there cannot be full accountability because the evidence was destroyed on his watch and under a subpoena. the remedy given to us in the constitution is impeachment. host: that was the chairman of the oversight and government reform committee yesterday laying out the argument for republicans on why they want to impeach the irs commissioner. rick is up first in florida. a d

american values. that was the battle cry of the resolution, basically. religion, them of separation of church and state, a free press, and independent judiciary. these are things that we find more or less in our constitution in different forms. how did the constitution come about? james madison did not write the bill of rights immediately, that came later. he saw the need for a better structure for our country. the act of confederation made us somewhat dysfunctional. if you look at it is government, you may think we are still dysfunctional. that is functionality at the time was really so bad. the states were supposed to work together. they were supposed to trade but they were more working against each other. madison saw the need to do something about that. montpelier. he locked himself in his library in 1780 678 he could study what other countries had done to design a system that would work to us. carefully, we can see him sitting in the library there. he is reading the newspaper, apparently. where did these values come from? .hey came from people when people came to this country very early on in the early 17th century, they brought with them

in addition to that bill, the house passed four other judiciary committee bills this week to address drug abuse and protect american people. h.r. 5052, the open act, increases the transparency and accountability of the comprehensive opioid abuse grant program in h.r. 5046, by requiring grantees to report on the use of grant funds and requiring a publicly available analysis of whether the grants have achieved their intended purposes. h.r. 4985, the kingpin designation improvement act, protects classified information from disclosure when a drug kingpin challenges his designation as such in a federal court. h.r. 5048, the good samaritan assessment act, requires the g.a.o. to study state and local good samaritan laws that protect caregivers, law enforcement personnel, and first responders who administer opioid overdose reversal drugs or devices from criminal or civil liability, as well as those who contact emergency service providers in response to an overdose. finally, s. 32, the transnational drug trafficking act, improves law enforcement's ability to pursue international drug manufacturers, brokers, and distributors

committee have asked for the number of americans affected by civil society and civil liberties groups have asked for the number and just less month 14 members of the house judiciary committee asked for just an estimate. so far no one has received a satisfying answer. is it possible for the government to provide an exact count of how many united states persons have been swept up in section 702 surveillance and if not, the exact count how about an estimate? >> it would be difficult to provide an exact count with any accuracy at all and i don't think anyone has asked for that. senator wyden initially asked for an estimate, i think i heard him use the word ballpark. that should be possible and with a couple programs it should be fairly straightforward. civil liberties community has offered to work with the intelligence community to try to find a privacy protective estimate. it should be possible and it is vital. this program is targeted at foreigners and that's the collection of american committee occasions is incidental. these are terms of art with specific legal meeting but when -- americans are not lawyers and when they hear this they will reasonably assume that a

the nominate and then i want americans to choose the president. >> host: we're talking to congressman steve king he was a member of the judiciary agriculture and small business committees. we're talking about the election and executive overreach. our next call is beverly colligan from indiana. you were on with congressman king. >> caller: yes. i've got a question. i can't understand donald trump. only thing he's got going for him is that wall that he wants to put up, which i agree with that, because we've got these people coming over here and getting jobs and ain't paying taxes, and we'll have to pay taxes. that's still the thing i like about donald trump. but i'd like to see somebody get into the really cares about this country -- suspect you have a specific question? no, yeah. like the last caller, what of it going to do about this bathroom thing? >> guest: you know, for the short version of it as i like to see a resolution brought you on the floor of the house that rejects that kind of directive. and a search of the legislative authority of exist within the congress for the micromanagement of science on bath and is not enumerated power in the con

the senate intelligence committee have asked for a number of americans affected. civil society and civil liberties groups have asked for the number. last month 14 members of the judiciary commit askcommittee ad for an estimate but nobody has received a satisfactory answer. is it possible for the government to provide an exact count of how many united states persons have been swept up in section 702 surveillance. if not, the exact count, what about an estimate? >> i think it would be very difficult to provide an exact count with any accuracy at all. i don't think anyone has asked for that. senator widen initially asked for an estimate. i think i heard him use the word ball park at one point. that should be possible. with a couple of programs, it should be fairly straightforward. there's -- it's a little trickier that's why the civil liberties community has offered to work with the intelligence committee to try to provide a way. it's vital. i hear public statements by officials over and over that this program is targeted at foreigners and that the collection of americans' communications is incidental. these are terms of art with very specific legal meanings, most america

the federal judiciary to hijack the most intensely partisan in legislation and that we have. >> let me give you a hypothetical. >> if there are racist map of drawers who say we really want to segregate african-americans that is the first statement it turns out they vote in a particular way and second to we will achieve a partisan the advantage as a result now what should be the right answer to that question? civic that is precisely the answer from alabama the but you can argue to segregate it invalidated all districts in alabama is said to the racial purpose? >> you are making it more complicated this is one district will segregate all african american voters primarily because of racial reasons we all like african-american voters and that has beneficial consequences so is that unconstitutional because eyeleted that and i say that was a your primary motivation that is sure scrutiny you are out of the ball gave you suggest you are not the kids to have a secondary that coincides with the racist conduct. >> if it is a motivating factor to show race was the but for clause you need to show its subordinated debt neutral principle that had any effect. >> then it seems sure changing your argument that they're

the kind that could potentially reach some american military bases. >>> early voting begins today to washington's democratic primary p. residents can mark their ballots starting at 8:30 this morning at one judiciary square. early voting centers across other parts of town open this saturday. early voting ends on july 11. >>> presidential hopefuls campaigning across the country today. bernie sanders will stay in california after a bit of a scare at a rally in oakland. a group of animalig protesters tried to rush the stage last night. secret service agents surrounded senator sanders. they were able to get the protesters out of the rally. at this point no charges have been filed. >>> security is top of mind in cleveland today ahead of this summer's republican national convention. the city will present its comprehensive security plan this morning. cleveland hopes to triple its police force to as many as 5,000 officers. it's also ordered extra equipment including steel barriers in anticipation of demonstrations. the convention runs july 18 through the 21. >>> eight people dead, that is the new number in this morning from texas emergency officials. they say two women and a teenage boy are among the peop

the late justice antonin scalia. we're talking about a gentleman here who made massive contributions to american law and who left a legacy that's respected both widely across his own -- excuse me, across the judiciaryyou boil it down, a group of left wing professors are hoping to make a political statement rather than paying the late justice the respect he desker --s. >> i'm told that only three were part of the law school. what are they saying should be done instead? >> well, the governing body is compromised mainly of faculty members but the main point, they want to turn down a donation that actually totaled around $30 million and it's the largest donation the school has ever received. it will open up countless doors for students. they hope to create a new center. it's really just a huge opportunity for the school. that's the faculty for the sake of making a political statement wants to turn it down. >> so the money some of which is coming from the charles koch foundation so it's the evil koch money and antonin scalia is a conservative. what if he was a left leaning jurist, do you think there would be this protest? >> i have no doubt it wouldn't be happening. if you look at the resolutions they h

judiciary that follows the constitution. that woman from new hampshire said we should appoint a native american.is not about ethnicity, it is about constitution and law. this phony do your job is laughable. of senate was in control democrats for six years and they passed not one appropriation bill. the senate republicans have their timetable and the eirs.rats have there' there is nothing in the constitution that says there should be a department of education. don't send them money. host: who do you like this november? caller: i am a trump person. he was not my first choice, but we have to beat hillary. do you trust any nominee that donald trump might bring to the supreme court? caller: he will get a lot of counseling on how to make that appointment, believe me. he will not just willy-nilly the deal. host: fairfax, virginia. democrats line. go ahead. i heard president obama made a come in earlier about not politicizing the justices. -- comment earlier. the other way around, the democratic party would do the same thing. they would try to block any republican nomination. that is how politics works.

judiciary committee chairman bob goodlatte and house comitteend oversight government reform chairman jason chaffetz for their advocacy, standing up for american taxpayers. i conclusion, god bless ou troops and may the president by hisctns never forget september 11 and the glol war on terrorism. the spker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. for what purpose does th gentleman from california seek recognition? >> mr. speaker, i ask unanimous cosent to addres e house for one minute. revise and extend. the speaker pro tempore: witht objection. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to exess my deep concern with the danger the zika virus continues to represent to the expectant mothers around the world. as a member of congss who reesents e whole lifornia-mexico border, i strongly urge my colleagues to provide adequa resources to avoid potentially tragic coequences filies and communities like mine. more than 275 pregnant women are confirmed zika cases in ameri, incuding 10 in californi and the number only continues to grow. mr. vargas: i believe we hav a unique opportunity to work in a to prent, detect, and respond the zika virus. th means fully funding the president's $1.9 billion equest

legislation passed the judiciary committee with unanimous support, and i urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill because its passage will save lives and help americans suffering from addiction reclaim their lives. i yield back. the chair: the gentlewoman yields back. the chair recognizes the gentleman from michigan. mr. conyers: mr. speaker, it's my pleasure to yield three nutes to the distinguished gentlelady from florida, ms. frankel. the chair: the chair recognizes the gentlewoman from florida for three minutes. ms. frankel: i thank the gentleman for yielding. mr. speaker, i rise in support of this critical legislation to address the nationwide opioid epidemic which has affected south florida, where i am from, as it has communities from california to new hampshire. today, i want to tell you about a related crisis that is obstructing the recovery of addicts and damaging the character of south florida neighborhoods and neighborhoods across the nation. i'm talking about the overproliferation in residential areas of group homes of recovering addicts called sober homes. in theory, it's a very good thing, a way to integrate or reintegrate addicts back

judiciary and foreign affairs committees. good morning to you. right on time. here is what you write. this time requires updated thinking of our party and place in american governance of themakes his unifying trip wednesday to capitol hill and republicans need to get real and admit hard truths, end quote. what are the hard truths? >> the hard truth is donald trump offers a direction that is in every sense of the word a republican direction while hillary clinton offers us a direction that is the opposite. it is at least as extreme as president obama's, perhaps more to the left, perhaps more bernie sandersish. people can argue nuances within the republican party. we've done that. that is what the primary process is all b we'll be arguing hillary clinton versus our alternative. our alternative is in fact a team headed by donald trump that will come out of the july cleveland convention destined to be the next president of the united states if we stay united against a flawed and perhaps criminal candidate. bill: you know what a lot of your colleagues think. they think trump's conservative credentials are mushy at best. are you concerned about that? >> well, if you look at the

and the american people are saying across party lines three words to my republican friends "do your job." do your job. and you know, since 1916, when the senate judiciary committee began holding public confirmation hearings for supreme court nominees, the senate has never denied a supreme court nominee a hearing and a vote. let me say that again. since 1916, the senate has never denied a supreme court nominee a hearing and a vote. the democrats never did it. the republicans never did it until now. and from the very people who, oh, i carry the constitution in my heart, i'm a strict constructionist. if you're such a strict constructionist, read this and follow the constitution. i understand, and i'm not sure -- i think i read this that somebody is either thinking of filing a lawsuit or they have filed a lawsuit because of inaction. i'll tell you, if i wasn't here, i would truly think about that. you can't read this constitution and come up with any other conclusion that what they're doing is unconstitutional. the very same people who say follow the constitution. so in closing, which is where my friend was waiting for, here's what i want to say. our repub