Gwen Graham: “Having said that, I believe the standard for the kind of information the Senate has a right and a need for in order to…”

“Having said that, I believe the standard for the kind of information the Senate has a right and a need for in order to be able to carry out its advise and consent function is not an ideological or even a precedential standard but, rather, a pragmatic standard. If a person has been, for instance, an academic and has written, as they typically do, extensive articles or books, there is some means by which you can get below and beneath the resume and get some feel of the person who is being considered. Similarly, if a person has been a judge at the State level, or at other levels within the Federal judiciary, it is likely that they have written opinions or other statements of their jurisprudential feelings which, again, would give you means by which to evaluate and cast an informed vote to consent to a Presidential nomination. I have been away from the Senate most of the time this matter has been under consideration. I do not serve on the Judiciary Committee, but colleagues whose judgment I respect have indicated they do not feel that as of today we have the information to, in an informed manner, provide that consent.”