Political Quotes

“Mr. President, tonight, the Senate will vote on the nomination of George Hanks to be a district judge for the Southern District of Texas. If confirmed, Judge Hanks will be the President's 309th judicial nominee confirmed since this President took office. By comparison, at the same point in his Presidency, President Bush had only 273 judicial nominees confirmed. Despite some of the complaints that we are hearing from my colleagues on the other side, we are moving judicial nominees at about the same pace as we did at this point in President Bush's Presidency. One difference, of course, is how the Senate handled the judicial nominees that were reported out of the committee during the lameduck session. Historically, the Senate doesn't confirm judges at the end of a Congress if those judges are reported out of committee during a lameduck. The reason for this, of course, is so the newly elected Members have an opportunity for their voices to be heard. For instance, that is what happened in 2006 when the Senate returned 13 judicial nominees to the President. Those nominees were then renominated in 2007 and eventually confirmed in the new Congress, but the Senate Democrats did not follow tradition last year. Instead of following standard practice, Senate Democrats confirmed 11 judicial nominees who were reported out of committee during the lameduck session.…”