Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I listened intently to my friend from Alabama. I have had the opportunity when I have presided to listen to him share his point of view with the Senate. As always, he is articulate and passionate. Before I make two unanimous consent requests, I wish to make some brief remarks. I see a number of colleagues on the Senate floor. I heard the comments about the time in which the Judiciary Committee is considering these nominees. And there are numbers and there are numbers, but the number that stands out to me, as I mentioned earlier, is we have 100 judicial vacancies, which the Senator from Alabama acknowledged. Forty-two of those are considered judicial emergencies by the bodies that oversee and monitor the judiciary. The Senate has confirmed 24 nominees so far this year and 36 total since President Obama was elected. Those are historic lows. That is the fewest number of judges confirmed in 50 years. We may have accelerated the process by which nominees are considered, but we have not accelerated the process by which they are confirmed so they can serve on a circuit court or a district court. The Senator talked about a nominee who was in limbo for 8 years, and I heard the passion with which he thinks that was a wrong. But two wrongs do not make a right. We need to get our courts fully staffed with jurists who want to serve. I heard piety mentioned.…”