Political Quotes

“Madam President, I rise today in opposition to the nomination of Daniel Collins to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Collins had been nominated to a California seat on the Ninth Circuit over the objections of Senator Harris and myself. Neither Senator Harris nor I returned blue slips for Mr. Collins, yet the majority moved forward with his nomination, disregarding our concerns. This vote on Mr. Collins follows on the heels of last week's vote on Kenneth Lee, another Ninth Circuit nominee who lacked blue slips from me and Senator Harris. So, once again, we see the majority violating Senate norms and traditions by ignoring home-State Senators, including the Judiciary Committee's ranking member, and stacking the courts with ideologues. This breakdown in Senate traditions is harmful to all of us, Democrats and Republicans. It is also unnecessary. As I have highlighted before, Democratic Senators have been willing to work with the White House to find consensus picks for the circuit courts, but that willingness has been rebuffed by the Trump administration and disregarded by the majority. The majority's decision to once again ignore blue slips is short- sighted. After all, what goes around comes around. Senator Harris and I refused to return blue slips on Mr. Collins for several reasons. I have used a bipartisan instate screening commission to vet potential nominees to California district and Ninth Circuit seats for my entire career.…”