Political Quotes

“Mr. President, at noon today a group of us on this side of the aisle went to the Supreme Court and stood in front of it and spoke about what was happening with the Republican decision to not proceed with the advice and consent provisions of the U.S. Constitution. I have been a member of the Judiciary Committee for 23 years. I sat through six Supreme Court nominations. In those 23 years, as a nonlawyer, I really became infused with great respect for the American system of justice, for the trial courts, for the appeal courts, and for the supreme courts on the State level as well as on the national level. I don't think there is a system of justice that affords an individual, a company, or an organization a fairer way to proceed to litigate a case than the American justice system. So as I stood there and heard some of my colleagues speaking, I began to think of the enormity of what is happening. We all know that the Constitution is clear that the President's role is to nominate and the Senate's role is to advise and consent on the nominee, nothing less, nothing more. I strongly believe that we should proceed to render the President's nominee to the highest Court of the land and proceed to consider that advice and consent process with a hearing in the Judiciary Committee. To do anything less, in my view, is to default on our responsibility as U.S. Senators. That has been the process, no matter how controversial a nomination.…”