Trent Lott: “I respond, Mr. President, that I do not get into the background of all the nominees when they are before the committee.…”

“I respond, Mr. President, that I do not get into the background of all the nominees when they are before the committee. I do not know all of the background on these nominees. As majority leader, when nominations reach the calendar, I try to get them cleared. I do think the fact that we had not been able to clear these four, even though they were already on the calendar, has maybe had a negative impact on other nominations being reported on the assumption that, well, if we could not move these, which were, I think, unanimously cleared quickly without any reservations, that that had become an impediment. I do not know that this will remove that impediment, but it looks to me as if it is a positive step.”