Dick Durbin: “in recent years we have faced a lot of difficulty filling positions for service to our Federal Government, not the least…”

“in recent years we have faced a lot of difficulty filling positions for service to our Federal Government, not the least of which are critical diplomatic posts around the world. We have seen delays in confirming Federal judges, one of the most important duties of the Senate. These men and woman are chosen for life appointments. The most frustrating part of this is that virtually all of these nominees should be confirmed with overwhelming support. To be nominated by the President at the White House for an ambassadorial spot or even a Federal judgeship you go through a clearance process in the beginning for the White House to choose this person, then a background check--and it is a pretty extensive background check--and then eventually, if the White House is satisfied this person is fit for the job, with no obstructions to their moving forward, they send them to Congress and it goes through this process all over again. So these nominees have been vetted once, twice, three times before they finally reach the point where there is a vote on the nominee in a committee on Capitol Hill in the Senate. If they clear that vote--and it is a partisan vote--if they clear that vote, then they make it to the Executive Calendar. It takes a long time. While this is going on, people are sitting there in suspense as to whether they are going to be selected and when they finally might get a chance to serve.…”