Political Quotes

“sometime tomorrow, this body will consider a number of nominations for final confirmation, among them the nomination of Matthew Kacsmaryk to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. A Federal district judge serves a particular area of the country, but in fact, the whole country has a stake in this nomination because a judge helps to define and refine and apply the law of the United States, setting precedent that applies to the entire country. It isn't just the Northern District of Texas that has a stake in this nomination; it is the entire country. So this alarming and appalling nomination should be of particular interest to my colleagues. It is the result of a process that, very unfortunately, has been demeaned and degraded. It is a shadow of what it once was. In the scrutiny that is given and the time that is devoted, this process is failing to assure the independence of the judiciary. Now is the time when that independence must be assured because, from this time forward, these judges will be lifetime appointees and will have no accountability to this body or to any other elected official. In previous years, under other Republican administrations, there was an adequate time to debate; there were full and fair hearings; and nominees answered questions about their views on issues that were relevant to their service. That process has been severely undercut-- indeed, decimated now.…”