Political Quotes

“Madam President, I rise on an important matter that affects all of us, Senators and citizens of our States alike, and that is the shortfall in the process of confirming nominations to the Federal bench. In particular, I wish to talk about one outstanding nominee from my home State of Colorado, William Martinez. Bill has an inspirational story. I will tell you more about it in a minute, but first I wish to explain why there is such an urgency to confirm this fine nominee. The situation in the Colorado District Court is dire--and I do not use that word easily or casually. There are currently five judges on our court and two vacancies, both of which are rated as judicial emergencies by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. These five judges have been handling the work of seven judges for nearly 2 years, and it has been over 3 years since our court had a full roster of judges. But there is more to the story. In 2008, based on the significant caseload in Colorado, the Judicial Conference of the United States recommended that an eighth judgeship be created. So you could argue we are actually three judges down from what we should have. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a letter from Chief Judge Wiley Daniel to Leaders Reid and McConnell, explaining the profound impact this vacancy is having on the courts of the District of Colorado.…”