Political Quotes

“I support the nomination of Gregory Alan Phillips to be United States Circuit Judge for the Tenth Circuit. This is the 27th judicial confirmation this year. With today's confirmation, the Senate will have confirmed 198 lower court nominees; we have defeated two. That is 198-2, which is an outstanding record. That is a success rate of 99 percent. We have been doing these at a fast pace. During the last Congress, we confirmed more judges than any Congress since the 103rd Congress, which was 1993-1994. This year, the beginning of President Obama's second term, we have already confirmed more judges than were confirmed in the entire first year of President Bush's second term. Let me emphasize that again-- we've already confirmed more nominees this year than we did during the entirety of 2005, the first year of President Bush's second term. After today, only four article III judges remain on the executive calendar--three district nominees and one circuit nominee. Yet somehow Senate Democrats cite this as evidence of obstructionism. Compare that to the calendar of June 2004, when 30 judicial nominations were on the calendar--10 circuit and 20 district. I don't recall any Senate Democrats complaining about how many nominations were piling up on the calendar. Nor do I remember protestations from my colleagues on the other side that judicial nominees were moving too slowly.…”