koh, the attorney for the department of state. i tell all senators i had a conversation with the republican leader today. we're doing our best to move to a couple of appropriation bills. the first one online is the legislative branch appropriation bill. the next is homeland security. we hope we can get on those. the republican leader said he would do his best to help us to that. i hope that, in fact, is the case. we'll keep members advised as to what we're going to do for the rest of the day. the presiding officer: under the previous order the leadership time is reserved. under the preefs order the senate will proceed to consider the following nomination with the -- which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination: department of state, harold koh of connecticut to be the legal adviser of the department of state. the presiding officer: under the previous order the time until 11:00 a.m. the time will be equally divided and controlled between the two leaders or their designees. a senator: mr. president? mr. president? the presiding

koh -- the title of the piece that mr. koh wrote. he has argued in other context as well that unique american constitutional provisions should conform to the international view of things. i've been speaking of free speech, assembly, the right to petition your government, to practice religion -- i think those are absolutely basic. but there are some other rights in our constitution. one of them is the second amendment. it's controversial. other countries don't have a protection like the second amendment to the u.s. constitution. if we want to amend the constitution, questio, we can d. but as it stands right now, the second amendment has been upheld by the supreme court to apply to have individual in the united states free from federal undue interference with respect to the ownership of guns. but if we adopt mr. koh's argument about conforming to international norms, including stricter gun control, it may bring us more in line with some other countries but it certainly would not be in keeping with the interpretation of the u.s. supreme

koh feels that the u.s. should establish a national firearms control system in a register of manufacturers, traders, importers and exporters of guns to comply with international obligations. this regulatory regime would allow the united nations members, such as cuba and venezuela and north korea and iran to have a say in what type of gun regulations are imposed on american citizens. this is not constitutional government in america. taken to their logical conclusion -- and i'm continuing the heritage quote here -- mr. koh's ideas could lead to a national database of all firearm owners as well as the use of international law to force the u.s. to pass laws to find out who owns guns. all who care about freedom should read his speech. senators need to think long and hard about whether koh's extreme views on international gun control are appropriate for america. let me just cover a couple of other things. this one about the iraq war. mr. koh published a commentary in the hartford current on october 20, 2002, entit

dean koh had no personal involvement in the law against john yuw. the state department's legal advisor is not charged with srelgs of allegations of war crimes. that's the job of the justice department and the defense department. finally we've heard questions about dean koh's respect for the role that congress has paid in crafting legislation relating to our national security. dean koh said at his confirmation hearing -- quote -- "the constitution's framework, while defining the powers of congress in article 1 and the president in article 2, creates a framework in which the foreign affairs power is a power shared. checks and balances don't stop at the water's edge. it is both constitutionally required and is also smart in the sense that the president makes better decisions when congress is involved. if they are in at the takeoff, they tend to be more supportive all the way through the exercise. so, mr. president, i hope that the chorus is a vast number of people supportive of dean koh's nomination. hundreds of law deans, many clergy, former state dep

koh, mr. harold koh has a long and distinguished history of serving this country and the legal profession. during the reagan administration -- a republican president's administration -- he was a career lawyer in the office of legal counsel at the department of justice. in 1998, unanimously confirmed as the u.s. assistant secretary. mr. koh's academic credentials are amazing. a marshal scholar at oxford, a graduate of harvard law school, editor of the harvard law review and he went on to be a clerk at the supreme court across the street, which is about as good as it gets going out of law school. since 2004 harold koh was a dean at a law school. he's been awarded 11 honorary degrees and 30 human rights awards. i don't know that you could present a stronger resume for a man who wants to serve our country to be involved in public service and step out of his professional life as a lawyer in the private sector and with law schools. he's been endorsed by leaders, legal scholars from both political pa

professor koh has written -- quote -- "u.s. criticism of iranian security forces who monitor the social activities of citizens, entered homes and offices, monitored telephone conversations, and opened mail without court authorization is hard to square with our own national security agency's sustained program of secret, unreviewed, warrantless electronic surveillance of americans and citizens. and residents. furthermore, he said," the united states cannot stand on strong footing, attacking iran for illegal detensions when similar charges can be and have been lodged against our own government." mr. president, the u.s. policies professor koh is criticizing are those that have been authorized by the united states congress in a bipartisan fashion. and each of us are accountable to our constituents for the decisions that we make. it is offensive to compare the policies of the united states government to those of a thee crate i can -- a theo crate i can dictatorship -- theocratic dictatorship to responds to oppression with brutal viol

in october of 2002, koh wrote -- and i'm quoting now. he said "i believe it would be a mistake for our country to attack iraq without explicit u.n. authorization, because such an attack would violate international law." additionally he supports ratification of the international criminal court which could subject our troops to prosecution in a foreign court. implementation of this interpretation of the international law raises a number of alarming questions. if the united states is required to gain u.n. authority for military action, what punitive actions might the united states be subjected to if unilaterally uses preemptive force? would our navy seals have had to wait for authorization from the international body before rescuing the american being held hostage in the horn of africa? i think 99% of the american people said that they should have that authority and we shouldn't have to go to any kind of an international court. i don't know where this obsession has come from that nothing's good unless it's international anymore. in 1992, ge

dean koh has really an extraordinary record. his curriculum vitae fills eight pages of very small print. he has a long list of honorary degrees. he received a number of medals. his list of honors and awards goes on virtually indefinitely. his publications, books and monographs occupy one, two, three, four, five, six and a half pages. his select legal activities, another half page. he can tiewrs that h lectures t, many. teaching activities, voluminous. boards of editors, professional affiliations, presentations, and workshops, boards, bars, members of the bar that he's associated with. i ask unanimous consent that this full text be printed in the record. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. specter: it's going to be expensive but it's worth it. i've been a member of this body for some time. i have never seen anyone with this kind of a resume. and i'm going to ask senator byrd the next time i see him if he knows of anybody who has a resume which is this extensive and this impressive. when you characterize the best and the

now, here's another clever soundbite by from koh. in around article for the berkley journal of national law he wrote -- quote -- "what role can transnational legal process play in nations whose disobedience with international law has attracted attention after september 11. most prominently north korea, iraq and our own country of the united states of america. for shorthand purposes, i will call these countries the axis of disobedience." close quote. to my fellow colleagues, i ask: do you accept the fact that the united states is part of an axis of disobedience? do you really think fighting back against the terrorists who struck on on 9/11 was disobedience? do you think that we should have a legal adviser in the state department who believes that international law ill defined, not applicable should be pride to -- applied be to affect his judgment on america. the legal adviser for the state department should be an advocate for the nation, not a detractor. if i remember correctly, after september 11th, by a vote of 77 members of the sen

koh highlights a trend which i think we see in some of president obama's nominees. they have impressive backgrounds, they're -- but when their records are examined in more detail, there are substantive questions about their understanding of the constitution. for example, mr. koh has said repeatedly, including at his confirmation hearing, that he believes the congressionally authorized 2003 u.s. invasion of iraq -- and i quote -- "violated international law" because the united states had not received -- and i quote -- "explicit united nations authorization" beforehand. he's also said that the united states supreme court should -- quote -- "tip more decisively toward a transnationallist jurisprudence." as opposed to basing their decisions on the united states constitution and laws made pursuant to it. his views on the second amendment are also extremely worrisome. in a speech called "a world drawing in guns," which was given at fordham university law school in 2002 and later published in their law review, he explains why he believes there should be a global gun contro

nevertheless i do not believe that professor koh

koh is quite open about it, shockingly, really. i suggest if we become transnational we suffer two blows to our legal system. first the laws we are subject to would not be laws made by us. this would remind us of the boston tea party. the colonies objected to paying taxes but not just any taxes. they objected because the taxes were being imposed on them by the british parliament and they didn't have a voice in it. the complaint was taxation without representation. thus, the moral power of the american law to compel obedience arises from the people's choice to enact it in the first place, that moral authority is undermined when we allow foreign law we had nothing to do with to impact our law. that is a pernicious thing, i suggest. secondly, it is not ever going to work in our good way. most countries don't have law, the truth be known. they have politics masquerading as law. trying to merge our system based on truth, the law and the evidence with these political legal systems will only result in our being shortchanged. we can reach

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

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

rules of the senate, do hereby move to bring to a close the debate on the nomination of harold 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 ever

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 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

attorney general, you had exchanges with senator graham and feinstein and koh will the issue of prolonged detention and i chaired a hearing on this topic last week and would simply urge you and the department to consider the various legal and policy concerns that are involved. any system of indefinite detention raises those kind of issues. i would say even with the kind of due process protections that you discussed. i do think this done a -- could be a very big mistake, especially because of how such a system could be perceived around the wormed, frankly after some of the progress that the administration is making to the president's good work in our relationships around the world. another topic, i wrote to the president on monday about my continued concern that the administration has not formally withdrawn legal opinions, including the january, 2006, white paper that provided legal justifications for the bush administration's warrantless wiretapping program. and the letter was prompted in part by a recent speech that i'm sure you're aware of by the director of national intelligence. and w

morning business, the senate will turn to executive session to resume debate on the nomination of harold 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 insisti

professor koh's view of military commission also deserve our attention. military commissions, it turns out, have been authorized since the beginning of this country by george washington during the revolutionary war, abraham lincoln during the civil war, and frank lynn roosevelt during world war ii. and, yes, military commissions have been authorized by both our 43 and 44th president of the united states in the context of the war on terror. president obama has said -- quote -- "military commissions are an appropriate venue for trying to detainees in violation of the law of war." and i agree with him. of course, military commissions, as i alluded a moment ago, have had bipartisan support, and authorization by the united states congress, but somehow professor koh takes a more radical view. he believes military commissions -- quote -- "create the impression of kangaroo courts." he said and they provide -- quote -- "ad hoc justice" and he said "they do not provide and can't provide credible justice" do we want the top legal adviser to the state department unde

yesterday i spoke at some length about dean koh and inserted his extraordinary resume in the record. it took some eight pages to list all of his honorary degrees, all of his publications, and all of his awards. when we search for the best and the brightest to come to washington, dean koh is a perfect match for that description. and if his nomination is to be rejected, it certainly will be a signal to people who have an interest in public service that they're better off not treading in these waters because the politics is so thick that even individuals of such extraordinary credentials can be rejected by the united states senate. i strongly urge my colleagues to support this nomination. i've been in this body a while. i've never spoken with such enthusiasm or such determination for the confirmation of a nominee as i have for dean koh. i think he would do an outstanding job. certainly the points that have been raised by the distinguished senator from texas are worthy of consideration, but there's no showing -- the presiding officer: senator, your time has expired. mr. specter: any of t

koh's nomination for many reasons and really most importantly of these is my tbleef if of ited that he'll -- is my belief that if confirmed, he'll greatly undermine the principles of sovereignty that i believe all americans expect of our federal government. let me talk a little bit about his role, what that would be if he's confirmed as the legal advisor to the state department. according to the state department's web site, the legal advisor will furnish and i quote, "advice on only legal issues domestic and international arising in the course of the department's work and negotiate, draft, and interpret international agreements involving peace initiatives, arms control discussions, and private law conventions on subjects such as judicial cooperation in recognition of foreign judgmen judgments." on a daily basis, mr. koh will also advise our government on a variety of federal legal issues that he believes affect international law in our foreign

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