Political Quotes

“Mr. President, our Republican colleagues have decided that the Senate should not hold a hearing or vote on any Supreme Court nominee this year. The reason? It is an election year. That is a breathtakingly candid but utterly irresponsible reason for the Senate not to do its job. That decision may not surprise those who have followed the Senate in recent years, as our Republican colleagues have time and again chosen to obstruct President Obama's agenda. We can disagree on legislation, we can disagree on policies, we can certainly disagree on judicial nominations, but the idea that the Senate should not take any action on a Supreme Court vacancy is unprecedented. In the last 100 years, the Senate has taken action on every Supreme Court nominee whether it is an election year or not. The Senate has not only taken action, but the Senate has confirmed more than a dozen Supreme Court Justices in the final year of a Presidency. In fact, a Democratic Senate confirmed Justice Anthony Kennedy in the final year of President Reagan's term. Yet roughly 9 months before the next election, the Republican position is that the Senate should not do its job because 11 months from now, we will have a new President. I ask you, what has that got to do with us doing our jobs? Under the Republican timeline, the Supreme Court will be left with only eight Justices for over a year. The last time it took so long for the Senate to fill a vacancy on the Court was during the Civil War.…”