Political Quotes

“Madam President, this week the Senate will vote on the nomination of Michael Brennan to serve on the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Milwaukee. Judge Brennan is a highly qualified nominee with broad, bipartisan support in his own State of Wisconsin. The Senate Judiciary Committee received numerous letters in support of Judge Brennan's nomination, including from the longtime Democratic Milwaukee district attorney. I fully support this nomination. I have heard from some of my colleagues--and especially from those on the other side of the aisle--that they believe Judge Brennan shouldn't have received a hearing before the Judiciary Committee. They say this because one Senator from Wisconsin didn't return the blue slip. But their opinions are based on an incorrect understanding of the blue slip's history. As I explained last year several times on the Senate floor and several times in committee, the blue slip courtesy is just that--a courtesy. It has a history going back to 1917. Since then, chairmen of the Judiciary Committee have distributed blue slips to home State Senators to get feedback on the nominees to the Federal bench in their respective States. Chairmen have applied the blue slip courtesy differently in its 100- year history. For the first 39 years of its existence, the blue slip had no bearing on whether a nominee went through the committee process. Then, in 1956, Senator James Eastland of Mississippi became chairman.…”