00:00Mr. President, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be vitiated.
00:03Without objection.
00:04Thank you, Mr. President.
00:05I come to the floor today to mark an important milestone in this new administration.
00:10Senate Republicans have now confirmed more than 100 nominees in President Trump's second term.
00:17This is significant progress in filling critical government positions.
00:24It took relentless procedural battles to accomplish this.
00:27It included full days, long nights.
00:30Why?
00:30Because Democrats are waging a coordinated campaign of obstruction.
00:36Under the Constitution, the Senate is meant to provide advice and consent.
00:42We do it on presidential nominations.
00:44We do it on a number of things.
00:46Specifically with regard to nominations, this means an honest evaluation of qualifications,
00:51and it means a vote in the United States Senate.
00:54Now, for more than six months, Senate Democrats have turned advice and consent into automatic opposition.
01:02It doesn't just delay President Trump.
01:05It damages the country.
01:08Democrats have filibustered all but one of President Trump's nominees,
01:13and that was the very first nominee, Marco Rubio, to be Secretary of State.
01:17He was confirmed on day one of the administration.
01:20Since then, it has been a wall of obstruction.
01:24Democrats filibustered positions requiring confirmation that have never before even had a roll call vote in the United States Senate.
01:32They've gone by unanimous consent.
01:35Democrats filibustered the chief of protocol for the State Department.
01:40The chief of protocol.
01:41Democrats filibustered the undersecretary of commerce for industry and security.
01:46They filibustered the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering.
01:52Today, 138 nominees who have already been approved by a full vote in Senate committees are caught here in Senate floor purgatory.
02:04Democrats in the Senate seem to have a new litmus test.
02:07President Trump nominates you.
02:09Democrats are against you.
02:11Period.
02:12End of story.
02:13Yesterday, the Senate confirmed four nominees.
02:17The assistant secretary of commerce for communications and information, the undersecretary of treasury for terrorism and financial crimes,
02:24a district judge for the eastern district of Missouri, and the assistant administrator at the environmental protection agency.
02:31All qualified, all vetted, all experienced.
02:34Each and every one filibustered.
02:37The Democrats forced the Senate to burn every minute of available time before the Senate was permitted to vote.
02:45When Democrats delay nominations and nominees, people specifically charged to fight drug trafficking, to protect the environment, to track terrorists, it delays justice.
02:58It makes our nation weaker and less safe.
03:00It tells Americans that Democrats care more about politics than they do problem solving.
03:08Now Democrats are targeting President Trump's nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
03:14We just heard the Senate minority leader talk about that nominee.
03:18By any objective measure, Mr. Bovey is qualified, Georgetown Law, top 5% of his class, a decorated former prosecutor, someone who took on and took down violent criminals, drug traffickers, terrorists.
03:34But because he worked for President Trump, he's now a target, a target of a politically motivated hit job.
03:43During his confirmation, he said this under oath.
03:46He said, I have never advised a Department of Justice attorney to violate a court order.
03:51The facts support his testimony.
03:54So today, Senator Schumer came to the floor and said of Mr. Bovey, he said he was, quote, as extreme as anyone we've considered in this chamber.
04:03Mr. President, let me recall for the body some of the people that were nominated to the Biden administration, supported by Chuck Schumer, when he takes an attack on such a qualified nominee, as we're debating and discussing and voting on today.
04:21Democrats confirmed as U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, someone who released a list of charges that she would refuse to prosecute if she was confirmed.
04:33She said, I refuse to prosecute shoplifting, drug possession, with intent to distribute.
04:38Okay, under the Democrats, they want her confirmed as a U.S. attorney, and they did that for Massachusetts.
04:44They also confirmed in 2021, under Joe Biden, an assistant attorney general who supported efforts to, quote, defund the police, an attorney general wanting to defund the police.
04:57And then they supported and nominated and confirmed a judge for the United States Court of Appeal for the 11th Circuit, a judge who worked for a left-wing organization that, listen to this, Democrats, repeatedly called for a complete reimagining of policing in this country.
05:16That's what they're for.
05:17That's what they're for.
05:19That's who they are.
05:21That's the Democrats today.
05:23So the kicker of all of this, Mr. President, is the Democrats' radical nominee for the Third Circuit in 2024.
05:30This same position, opposed by more than 20 police groups.
05:3620 police groups served on the board of advisors of a group that called cop killers freedom fighters.
05:44The Democrats came to support a nominee by the president, then Joe Biden, who was a member of a board of advisors for a group that called cop killers freedom fighters and advocated for their release.
06:01Nevertheless, Democrats strongly supported the confirmation.
06:06They relented only after President Trump won the election.
06:09Mr. President, Republicans are working hard to get America back on track.
06:17On another matter, Mr. President, this Saturday marks the day of the American cowboy.
06:22This national celebration began 20 years ago.
06:26It started by my predecessor, Senator Craig Thomas.
06:29And I'm proud to continue it with Senator Cynthia Lummis today.
06:32By celebrating the American cowboy, we celebrate the men and the women who transformed a vast frontier into vibrant communities.
06:41The people who paved the way for the American dream from the saddle of a horse, they made America great.
06:48The people who continue to believe that freedom is a gift, a gift from God, not from the government.
06:56That's who cowboys are.
06:57The American cowboy represents the grit and the values that America is built on.
07:02Now, I'm from Wyoming, and in Wyoming, we believe in the cowboy code, and we live it each and every day.
07:08It says, live each day with courage.
07:12Take pride in your work.
07:14Do what needs to be done.
07:16That's what we do in the West.
07:17And we need these values more than ever in America, and especially in Washington, D.C., because cowboys will tell you it's not about the boots on your feet, not about the hat on your head.
07:28It's about the values you embrace, values that cowboys truly represent.
07:34The character matters more than the credentials.
07:38The actions speak louder than words.
07:41The best government is the government that trusts the people to govern themselves.
07:44The American frontier spirit is alive and well today.
07:49President Ronald Reagan said when he was in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in the American West, he said the thing he loved about Wyoming and the West, he said,
07:56people here still believe the future is ours to shape.
08:00People in the West continue to create and shape that future each and every day.
