On the recordJuly 29, 2010
I also rise today in support of Bill Martinez's nomination to serve on the Federal district court in Colorado. Before I talk about that, I wish to take a moment to address this small business bill that is before the Senate because people are watching this in my State, and they are saying to themselves: We have spent 18 months with credit frozen--longer than that for small businesses--and Washington cannot seem to do anything for us. Today is the day Washington could do something for small businesses in my State and across the country. And it is not a case of Democrat against Republican; this feels to me like a case of Washington politics against the rest of the country. So I lend my voice to the Senator from Florida and say that I hope the leadership can get it together. I wish to add my push today for the unanimous consent request of the senior Senator from Colorado to consider this nomination of Bill Martinez. We need him confirmed so he can begin serving our State. Bill appeared before the Judiciary Committee in March, where I had the privilege of introducing him. His nomination passed the committee with votes to spare in April. The Martinez nomination, like so many others, has gotten stuck because of the obstructionist tactics of a few. So this man with a breadth of public and private sector legal experience that makes him more than qualified to serve on the Federal bench is being held up month after month.
