i rise to speak on behalf of of the nomination of harold koh. i speak from a real depth of personal spaoefrpbs with harold koh. i know him and have known him for years as a friend and a neighbor in new haven, connecticut. and based on that and all his professional work, there is no doubt in my mind that he is profoundly qualified to occupy this important position as legal advisor at the department of state. he's a brilliant scholar. he's one of america's foremost experts on international law. he actually is qualified to be the legal advisor to the secretary of state. he has a distinguished record of service in our government, having worked in both democratic and republican administrations, consistently won the highest regard from people across the political spectrum. harold koh will bring to this position a deep devotion to our country and the appreciation of the fundamental values for which we stand based on his status, personal status as the child of immigrants who came to this country, escaping dictatorship and seeking freedom and contributin

hard to find anybody who has a better record than -- than dean harold koh. his experience in international law is extensive in human righ rights, is an ideal legal advisor to the department of state with his background and his experience. and he has judgment and he has balance. and for my personal knowledge, i have total confidence that he would apply his legal knowledge and his background in a wise and iissedacious way. he testified before the judiciary committee when i chaired the committee and in every way is exemplary. it is a little surprising to me that it's necessary to have a cloture vote, to have 60 votes to take up the nomination of dean koh. but considering the politics of washington and considering the politics of the united states senate, perhaps i shouldn't be surprised at anything. but having a very, very high surprise threshold, i say that i'm surprised that dean koh would require 60 votes to reach a confirmation vote. but i urge anybody who has any doubts about the caliber of this man to get out their glasses -- or you may need a magnifying

this is overwhelming support for harold koh. usually these nominations are done routinely at night when there are few people on the floor and we're going through a long series of things to do. someone with this kind of background doesn't even slow down as they move through the senate on to public service. but, unfortunately, the strategy on the other side of the aisle is to slow things down and do as little as possible this week. well, i sincerely hope that when the time comes, when the 30 hours have run, when the republicans have finally decided that they don't want to delay the senate any longer, that they will bring mr. koh's nomination to a vote. i enthusiastically support his nomination an encourage my colleagues to join me in voting him out of the senate quickly so he can continue his record of public service. now, mr. president, i ask for unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business and my following remarks be placed at a separate point in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. durbin: thank you

and i understand that cloture has been filed on harold koh, and i wanted to come to register my strong opposition and assure the american people that their representatives in congress are not going to let this nominee sail through unopposed and to let them know that there are some of us here in the senate who will require full and extensive debate before this nominee receives a vote. and i think that you -- in doing so, you almost have to ask the question as to whatever happened to the understanding we've always had in this country taos what sovereignty really means. as legal advisor to the state department, koh would be advising the straighter on the legality of united states actions in the international forum and interpreting and advocating for the international law and treaties. the significance of this position and its effect on our sovereignty and security shouldn't be understated. koh is a self-proclaimed transnationallist, adheres to this school of thought, believes that international school of law is equal to or should take precedent over domestic law and international court ru

harold koh to be the legal advisor to the department of state. my concerns with mr. koh arise primarily from his own statements, writings and testimony before congress. in my opinion, he seems more comfortable basing his legal conclusions on partisan political opinions and trendy arguments rather than the facts and the law. we don't need more legal clerics in government. we need more legal realists in government, someone who pays attention to the hard work that we do in this body to pass laws. the department of state and the country deserve better than that kind of advice. let me provide a few quick examples. on september 16, 2008, mr. koh testified before the senate judiciary subcommittee on the constitution. his written testimony included the following statement -- quote -- "a compliant congress repeatedly blessed unsound executive policies by enacting nominal loophole-ridden bans on torture and cruel treatment and rubber-stamping without serious hearings, presidentially introduced legislation ranging from the patriot act to the military commissions act to the most

president, i rise to speak once again on the nomination of harold koh, who the president has nominated to be legal advisor for the state department. just to put this in context, as the senator from massachusetts has addressed, the legal advisor is a very important job at the state department. he is responsible for providing guidance on important legal questions, including treaty interpretation and other international obligations of the united states. he gives the secretary of state legal advice during negotiations with other nations. and so it is the legal advisor can be a very influential voice in diplomatic circles, especially if he or she has particularly strong views on america's obligations to other nations in multilateral organizations. based on my review of dean koh's record, i don't believe he's the right man for this job. his views are intentioned with what i believe are core democratic values in that he would subjugate american sovereignty to the opinions, the so-called international common law, including treaty obligations that the united states senate has never ratified. in

earlier today the majority leader filed nomination for cloture on harold koh. if we're unable to reach an agreement to consider the nomination, that cloture vote would occur wednesday morning. 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 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. and fairness. >> tonight on the communicator's a discussion on president obama es choice to lead the federal communications commission with andrew feinberg broadband census and form johnson with dow jones news wire. with the fcc would look like under a new chairman to night eight eastern on the communicators on c-span2. >>> topics at today's state department briefing include the continuing unrest in iran, u.s. relations with china and u.s. navies ongoing surveillance of the north korean ship suspected of transporting beer and nuclear technology. the briefing is conducted by state department spokesman kelly. it's half an hour. >> good afternoon. i think as many of you have heard the

koh to be the next u.s. state department legal advisor. and i wanted to express some of my views and the concerns that i have. now, obviously cloture was invoked this morning. my guess is ultimately he will have the votes to be confirmed here, but we have an opportunity now in the postcloture period to talk a little bit about this nominee. and i have to say, mr. president, that, again, this is an important position. if confirmed for this position, mr. koh would be "the" top lawyer at the state department and would be involved in the negotiation, the drafting, and the interpretation of treaties in u.n. security council resolutions. he would also represent the united states in other international negotiations, at international organizations and before the international court of justice. to put it very simply, mr. president, he would be viewed as the top legal authority for the united states by the international community. now, similar to judge sotomayor, mr. koh highlights a trend which i think we see in some

president, i rise to speak on the nomination of harold koh whom the president nominated to be legal adviser at the state department. this is a relatively obscure, but very important position at state department and the legal adviser operates frequently behind-the-scenes but on such important issues as international relation, national security, and in other areas. one area that's very important is that the real leel adviser is the -- the legal adviser is often the last word of state department on questions regarding treaty interpretation, that is, international agreements between countries. a legal adviser often gives legal advice to the secretary of state and the president of the united states during important negotiations with other nations. we also know that from experience the legal adviser can be a very important voice in diplomatic circles especially if he or she views america's obligations to other nations and multilateral organizations in a particular way, particularly if they have strong views. professor koh has an impressive academic resume and a professional background. he's an ac

the presiding officer: we are in executive nomination of harold koh. mr. enzi: are there time restrictions? the presiding officer: we're in postcloture which requires debate on the pending matter. mr. enzi: mr. president, i'd ask unanimous consent i be allowed to speak as if in morning business for such time as i might consume. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. mr. enzi: thank you, mr. president. i rise today to speak on the need to reform our nation's health care system. if we're to be successful we must undertake this effort with the greatest of care and deliberation. when it comes to health care reform we've started down this road before. last congress i proposed legislation called ten steps to transform health care in america in an effort to provide a blueprint from which we could begin to address the challenge of improving our health care system. i might mention that the way that came about is that senator kennedy was the chairman of thee health, education, labor and pensions committee and i was ranking member and he and i worked t

koh to be legal advisor for the department of state. we hope some of the post cloture debate time can be yielded back and we'll be able to vote on the nomination as early as possible. if we're unable to yield any time, the vote would occur about 5:30 this evening. we're working on an agreement to consider a legislative branch appropriations bill. senators will be notified when votes will be scheduled or agreements reached. madam president, it's my understanding that s. 1344 is at the desk and due for a second reading. the presiding officer: the clerk will read the title of the bill. the clerk: a bill to temporarily protect the solvency of the highway trust fund. mr. reid: i would object, madam president, to any further proceedings with respect to this legislation at this time. the presiding officer: objection is heard. the bill will be placed on the calendar. mr. mcconnell: madam president? the presiding officer: the republican leader. mr. mcconnell: madam president, americans are insisting that members of congress work together on refo

harold hongju koh, state department legal advisor, like the interior department, the state department, secretary clinton wants a lawyer there. a lawyer with the huge most important office -- no. robert groves nominated to be the director of the corner cens. and there are 20 others. just republicans recklessly refuse to confirm our new ambassador to iraq, listen to what they're doing now: they're holding up lieutenant general stanley mcchrystal, imminently qualified soldier who president obama and secretary gates chose to be our new commander in afghanistan. i met him in my office the other day. this is a man whose military is in his blood. his father was a great general. his father won five silver stars fighting for our country around the world. stanley mcchrystal is an expert in counterinsurgency which we need so badly in afghanistan. but, no, we're not going to get him approved. at least for now. republicans are so opposed to everything they even oppose putting people in some of the most important positions in our government. we believe, the majority believe, democrats believe, thos

hongju koh of connecticut to be legal advisor of the department of state. signed by 18 senators as follows: reid, pryor, whitehouse, inouye, feingold, dodd, burris, durbin, murray, tester, udall of colorado, klobuchar, reed of rhode island, baucus, merkley, lincoln, cantwell, dorgan. mr. reid: i ask that the mandatory quorum be waived. the presiding officer: is there objection? without objection. mr. reid: i ask the senate resume legislative session. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: i ask now that we proceed to a period of monk business, senators allowed to speak -- of morning business, senators allowed to speak therein for up to ten minutes each. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. reid: madam president, let me just say a brief word on the cloture that was not invoked on the travel bill. i hope that everyone understands what obstructionism is. this is obstructionism at its best, and it goes along with what the republicans said they wanted to do and that is stop everything. as indicated in "roll call" newspaper last week. this i

we have harold hongju koh, and i heard on monday, day before yesterday to secretary clinton, this is somebody she needs very badly. he is going to be the lawyer for the state department. we have a number of people under the. >> under the judiciary committee. we have somebody who's going to be the -- help run the department of homeland security. rand beers, good person. extremely well qualified. and as i indicated, a number on judiciary but the topper is lieutenant general stanley mcchrystal to run afghanistan. i would hope that people would search their con shns and try to get these -- conscience and try to get these done. i can't file cloture on every one of these. so people watching this understand, it takes days for us to do that. but 25 nominations are held up. it would take until the summer until we finish the july recess and beyond for us to get this done, filing cloture on every one of these. i hope it doesn't come to that. mr. president, on another topic, in a single word, health care debate is about choices. our country, are you going to choose you can't take children to the

the question is: is it the sense of the that the senate debate on the nomination of harold koh of the connecticut to be legal adviser of the state department shall be brought to a close. the yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote: the presiding officer: any senator wanting to vote or change their vote? seeing or hearing none, on this vote the yeas are 65. the nays are 31. three-fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn have voted in the affirmative. the motion is agreed to. no applause from the gallery is allowed. mr. chambliss: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from georgia. mr. chambliss: i ask unanimous consent that i be allowed to speak as if in morning business and that i be followed by my colleague, senator isakson. the presiding officer: is there objection? hearing no objection so ordered. khabg khabg i rise to dashes. mr. chambliss: i rise to pay tribute to dr. bruce gruby. he took the helm of southern university in statesburg, georgia. after ten years on the job he will leave georgia southern a bigger, bet

for these reasons, madam president, i urge my colleagues to oppose the nomination of harold koh as legal advicer to the -- adviser to the state department. i yield the floor and reserve the balance of my time. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: mr. cornyn: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from texas. mr. cornyn: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be rescinded. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. cornyn: madam president, we would yield back the remainder of our time. madam president, i would ask for the yeas and nays. the presiding officer: is there a sufficient second? there appears to be. the question is on the confirmation of the nomination of -- the yeas and nays have been ordered. the clerk will call the roll. vote: vote: vote:

president, the nomination of harold koh concerns me for a number of reasons. primarily his view that international law should guide u.s. law. and his criticism of our first amendment right to freedom of speech, and his opposition to the solomon amendment which conditions federal funding to educational institutions on allowing military recruiting on campus. the state department legal advisor helps formulate and implement u.s. foreign policy, advises the justice department on cases with international implications, influences u.s. positions on issues considered by international bodies, and represents the u.s. at treaty negotiations and international conferences. in short, this position requires the utmost deference to the constitution of the united states. mr. koh is a proponent of transnationalism, the belief that americans should use foreign law a