Political Quotes

“Thank you. I know there are others waiting, so I don't estimate I will take more than 10 or 12 minutes. I rise in opposition to the nomination of Tom Farr to the Eastern District of North Carolina. I do so as the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee. The vote for Mr. Farr's nomination, as Members know, had been scheduled for today, but it has been postponed. Mr. Farr's long career indicates that his history raises serious questions about his ability to safeguard voting rights for all Americans. In fact, he has a history involving voter suppression efforts, which leads me to question his qualifications to even be a Federal judge. Farr's hostility toward voting rights can be traced back to the 1980s and 1990s when he worked as a lead attorney for Senator Jesse Helms' reelection campaign. Media reports indicate that he was not truthful in his responses to questions for the record about his involvement in voter suppression efforts that were orchestrated by the Helms campaign and by the Republican Party of North Carolina. Here are the facts: In 1990, Helms was in a tight race with the mayor of Charlotte, Harvey Gantt, and the campaign implemented a strategy to suppress and confuse African-American voters. The Helms campaign and the North Carolina GOP implemented a so-called ballot security program.…”