Political Quotes

“I wish to say a few more things regarding our request for action on these judicial nominations. The group of nominations on which I requested action includes nominees from Maryland, New Jersey, Nebraska, Tennessee, New York, California, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Hawaii. They are all waiting. I have just one comment about the Supreme Court vacancy. The last time the Senate refused to deal with a Supreme Court vacancy was during the Civil War. They so objected to dealing with the President's nomination that the Congress actually changed the number of Justices on the Supreme Court. The number of Justices is set by law, so the Congress changed the law and changed the number of Justices from 10 to 7 so that they would not have to deal with the President's nominee to the Supreme Court vacancy. The President vetoed that bill, the Congress overrode that veto, and so they changed the makeup and number of Justices on the Supreme Court. Certainly that is not what I am suggesting Republicans should do. In fact, we have had a nine-member Supreme Court for almost 150 years. I agree with my friend, the Senator from Wyoming, that this should not be a partisan issue. Certainly, I agree with my friend from Maryland that we should get on with it. We should get on with these judicial nominations.…”