Jon Kyl: “Secondly, I would like to very briefly remind my colleagues of the fact that when we talk about the numbers of judges…”

“Secondly, I would like to very briefly remind my colleagues of the fact that when we talk about the numbers of judges President Bush has nominated who have been confirmed, it is important for us to remember that there has never been any controversy with respect to district court judges. Almost all Presidents' district court judges are confirmed. Those are recommended for nomination usually by Members of the Senate, and it is rare, indeed, that we would object to each other's recommendations. Instead, for all Presidents there is a very high number of district court judges confirmed. And indeed, that was the case with President Clinton and has been the case so far with President Bush. So when talking about the numbers of judges confirmed, and wondering what the fuss is all about, our constituents might want to focus on the fact that what the other side usually does not talk about is the fact that the judges that are not being confirmed are circuit court judges. These are the judges directly below the U.S. Supreme Court. There are not very many of them. They are very important. And these are the judges who are being filibustered by the minority. How many? Well, in the case of President Bush, in his first term--and none have been confirmed now at the beginning of his second term, so this is the full story--35 of the President's 52 nominees have been confirmed. That is only a confirmation rate of two-thirds or 67 percent.…”