Political Quotes

“Madam President, I come to the floor to speak on the nomination of Goodwin Liu to be Circuit Judge of the Ninth Circuit. I have said many times over the past 2 weeks--and perhaps for longer than the last 2 weeks--that by any fair measure we are moving judicial nominees at a very brisk pace. This month alone, we confirmed 7 judges in 10 days. In the short time we have been in session this year, we have confirmed 24 judges. That is a rate, almost, of one judge every other day. This year, the committee has favorably reported 51 percent of President Obama's nominees, yet it seems the more we work with the majority on filling vacancies, the more complaints we hear. Furthermore, as we work together to confirm consensus nominees, we are met with the majority's insistence that we turn to controversial nominees, such as the one before us today--Goodwin Liu--because this seems to be the most controversial of President Obama's nominees we have had to this point. I have pledged, and indeed I have demonstrated, cooperation in moving forward on consensus nominations. There is no doubt that Mr. Liu does not fall into the category of being a consensus nominee. My objections to this nominee can be summarized in five areas of concern: his controversial writings and speeches, an activist judicial philosophy, his lack of judicial temperament, his troublesome testimony and lack of candor before the committee, and his limited experience. Mr.…”