Political Quotes

“I come to the floor to attempt to clear up some confusion about Senate procedure. The confusion I wish to address is that some observers of the Senate seem to have a hard time telling the difference between a filibuster that is designed to kill the nomination of a Cabinet member or a judge and a motion by the majority leader to cut off debate. Let me say that again--the difference between a filibuster that is designed to prevent the nomination of a Cabinet member or a judge on one hand or a motion by the majority leader of the Senate to cut off debate. There is a big difference. But sometimes I read in the newspapers that Republicans are filibustering, for example, Senator Hagel, as if a majority of Republicans or a majority of the Senate intended to deny the confirmation of Senator Hagel through a filibuster, when, in fact, what most of the Republicans were saying was: The nomination of the former Senator has come to the floor only 2 days ago. We have Senators who have legitimate questions about the nomination, and we wish to have some time to discuss it. In that case, we were forced to have a vote on a motion by the majority leader to cut off debate on Thursday before the recess, even though the Democratic leadership and the White House had been told by Republican Senators--enough of us--if we voted after the recess there would be plenty of votes to make sure the President's nominee had an up-or-down vote, as we have done throughout history in the U.S.…”