Political Quotes

“Madam President, it is time to end the delays and move ahead with up-or-down votes on these judicial nominations. Right now there are 22 judicial nominations sitting on the judicial calendar: 17 district court and 5 circuit court nominees. These are appointments to Federal judgeships. In many instances they are appointments that are long overdue and desperately needed. Twelve of these nominees were voted out of the Judiciary Committee last year--last year--two of them as far back as last October. One would think they must be very controversial people to have made it this far but then stalled on the calendar. It turns out 17 of these 22 nominees received strong bipartisan support on the committee. Thirteen had blue slips, which is permission to go forward, from home State Republican Senators. Eleven of them would fill vacancies deemed as judicial emergencies. I don't understand how we can do this to the Federal judiciary and to the men and women who are involved. The American people need these nominations to be confirmed in a timely fashion, and it is only fair to these men and women who are offering their lives in public service and sometimes jeopardizing their current jobs because of the uncertainty of their future. All Americans want our Federal courts to be there to prosecute criminals, to make certain they have their day in court in civil proceedings, as well as to maintain the integrity of our judicial process.…”