María Elvira Salazar: “let me at the outset say that I am proud that I was 1 of the 14 Members who signed the agreement just referred to by my…”

“let me at the outset say that I am proud that I was 1 of the 14 Members who signed the agreement just referred to by my good friend from Ohio. In the signing of that agreement, one of the things that brought people together was the concept of respect for each other, mutual respect for our colleagues in this Chamber, mutual respect for the people of America. As we have gone through the debate on the confirmation of judges over the last several days, I have seen debate within this body as well as debate among some of the constituent groups that I have found troublesome because it goes to the heart of the kind of respect we should afford each other in this Chamber. I have heard statements that those who happened to be opposed to Bill Pryor, for whom I voted, were opposed to him because he was anti- Catholic. I heard statements made that some of my Democratic colleagues who were opposed to Janice Rogers Brown were opposed to her because she was African American. I submit that nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, when those kinds of statements emanate from Members of this Chamber or when they emanate from some of the constituent groups that follow us, it is a violation of the respect we should afford each other. I, too, am hopeful that as we move forward in the consideration of other judges and other matters, that kind of hurtful, vitriolic, and unwarranted attack on each other is something we will not see again.…”