Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I know that the Democratic leader is scheduled to speak next, but if there is a minute that I could take in between, I just wanted to comment on my colleague who spoke yesterday, Senator Collins. I had wanted to come to the floor to speak on her behalf, but too many other people had been speaking at that time. People had remarked on her comments and reflected on the fact that she had done her homework, and she, indeed, had. I, simply, wanted to relay this anecdote. When I helped to introduce Judge Kavanaugh to my fellow former Senators, former colleagues, I think of all of the meetings that we had, and many of them were lawyers who are Senators. Probably the most thorough meeting of all was that held with Senator Collins. She had clearly done her homework, and the interview with Judge Kavanaugh consumed more than 2 hours without a break. It was a grilling that could have been done by any fine lawyer because she had clearly done her homework and was very well prepared, and I know she did further followup after that. I do want to commend her for the depth and the breadth of her comments. As the Wall Street Journal said this morning, she not only debated like it used to be done in this body--with evidence and sound reasoning--but also with a reference to our founding principles and the higher things that should motivate our public service and our discussions here on the Senate floor.…”