John Kerry on the Alito Nomination: The Time To Stand Is Now (Speech Text)

[kerrygoddess]

John Kerry on the Alito Nomination: The Time To Stand Is Now
January 27th, 2006 @ 4:43 pm

John Kerry spoke on the Senate Floor earlier today outlining his reasons for making a stand against the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. I heard a clip of the speech this afternoon on The Ed Schultz Show, that defined, in my opinion what this is about: The Time To Stand Is Now (thanks to Swany on Big Ed's Show for the clip)...

Listen Here: The Time To Stand Is Now. - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=1774

“I am proud to join my friend, the senior Senator from Massachusetts, in taking a stand against this nomination. I know it is an uphill battle. I have heard many of my colleagues. I hear the arguments: Reserve your gunpowder for the future. What is the future if it changes so dramatically at this moment in time? What happens to those people who count on us to stand up and protect them now, not later, not at some future time?

“This is the choice for the Court now. I reject those notions that there ought to somehow be some political calculus about the future. This impact is going to be now. This choice is now. This ideological direction is defined now.

MORE - FULL TRANSCRIPT OF TODAY"S SPEECH - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=1774

[skylarmae]

1. thank you John Kerry!

[flpoljunkie]

2. Thanks for posting the link to Kerry's speech.

[Sydnie]

3. These are the things that define us

I was inspired by todays speech. Thank you for posting this.

Thank you President Kerry for having our backs yet again!

[Wordie]

4. It was on C-Span2 in real time this afternoon. It will replay 11:40PM EST

That is, the entire Senate session will replay at that time. That's 8:40PM PST, and it says that the entire thing lasts about 59 minutes.

I'm going to email C-Span to ask that they replay it over the weekend, and in fact, replay the entirety of the Senate debate over the weekend. It is, after all, an historic moment. Hope others will do the same.

[kerrygoddess]

5. Keep the pressure on!

Standing Strong to Filibuster Alito
January 27th, 2006 @ 3:42 pm

Here’s an update on those committed to Stand Strong and filibuster the Alito nomination…

Leading the Fight:
John F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy.

Committed to Filibuster:
Barbara Boxer (D- CA), Dianne Feinstein (D- CA), Christopher J. Dodd (D- CT), Richard J. Durbin (D- IL), Debbie A. Stabenow (D- MI), Robert Menendez (D- NJ), Harry Reid (D- NV), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D- NY), Charles Schumer (D- NY), Ron Wyden (D- OR), Russell D. Feingold (D- WI).

Each and everyone of those Senators deserve our support and our thanks, now and in the future. This has been a tough decision for each of them and it’s one that deserves our acknowledgement and praise. We all know that the odds are slim that this will be pulled off… But, it all about standing up and standing strong on the principles that you believe in. So, to each of these Senators, I say — “I’ve got your back.” I hope everyone here will join me.

Now, this brings me to the next part of my post… The Senators listed below need our help to recognize the folly of their ways. The first list is the Undecided’s, the next the Against Filibuster and the last the Dem Senators who will vote to confirm Alito.

If you are with me in this fight, if you have the back’s of John Kerry, Edward M. Kennedy and those committed to this fight, get on the phone and call each and everyone of them and let them know you want a filibuster!


Undecided - Needs Pressure:
Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D- AR), 202-224-4843
Joseph I. Lieberman (D- CT), 202-224-4041
Thomas R. Carper (D- DE), 202-224-2441
Daniel K. Inouye (D- HI), 202-224-3934
Tom Harkin (D- IA), 202-224-3254
Barack Obama (D- IL), 202-224-2854
Evan Bayh (D- IN), 202-224-5623
Barbara A. Mikulski (D- MD), 202-224-4654
Paul S. Sarbanes (D- MD), 202-224-4524
Carl Levin (D- MI), 202-224-6221
Mark Dayton (D- MN), 202-224-3244
Max Baucus (D- MT), 202-224-2651
Frank Lautenberg (D- NJ), 202-224-3224
Jeff Bingaman (D- NM), 202-224-5521
Jack Reed (D- RI), 202-224-4642
Lincoln D. Chafee (R- RI), 202-224-2921
Patrick J. Leahy (D- VT), 202-224-4242
Maria Cantwell (D- WA), 202-224-3441
Patty Murray (D- WA), 202-224-2621
Herb Kohl (D- WI), 202-224-5653
John D. Rockefeller, IV (D- WV), 202-224-6472
James M. Jeffords (I- VT), 202-224-5141

Against Filibuster:
Mark Pryor (D- AR), 202-224-2353
Ken Salazar (D- CO) , 202-224-5852
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D- DE) , 202-224-5042
Bill Nelson (D- FL), 202-224-5274
Daniel K. Akaka (D- HI) (1,), 202-224-6361
Mary Landrieu (D- LA) (1,), 202-224-5824
Byron L. Dorgan (D- ND) (1,), 202-224-2551
Kent Conrad (D- ND) (1,), 202-224-2043
Olympia Snowe (R- ME) (1,), 202-224-5344

Supporting Alito:
Ben Nelson (D-NE) 202-224-6551
Tim Johnson (D- SD) , 202-224-5842
Robert C. Byrd (D- WV) , 202-224-3954

MORE - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=1773