Political Quotes

“I thank the distinguished Senator from Oklahoma for his courtesy and his leadership on so many issues. Mr. President, I want to particularly say to my colleague from Vermont how much I appreciate his leadership on the Judiciary Committee, where I serve. Leadership is the mark of his work there. He brings together Members of both parties on so many issues, including this one involving the Federal judiciary. It is, as he has said so eloquently, one of the marvels of the world, one of the historic accomplishments of our republican democracy, that we have a truly independent judiciary that exemplifies the qualities of professionalism, scholarship, integrity, and, yes, independence. We are here today because we have a crisis in our judiciary. It is a crisis not created by our judges but by this body. It is a judicial vacancy crisis because nearly 1 out of 10--I repeat, 1 out of 10-- judgeships in this country are now vacant. The vacancies are double what they were at this point in President Bush's first term. Every time I go back to Connecticut--as I am sure happens to the Presiding Officer in his State of West Virginia and to Senator Inhofe in Oklahoma--people ask me: Why can't you do better in Washington? Why can't you bring both parties together and avoid the waste and the acrimony and rancor and the gridlock that is the reason for this judicial vacancy crisis?…”