Political Quotes

On the recordSeptember 29, 2023
Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the Senate's need to swiftly confirm any U.S. attorney nominees. Two days ago, I came to the floor to request unanimous consent for the Senate to take up and confirm four pending U.S. attorney nominations that were being held up by one U.S. Senator, the junior Senator from Ohio, Senator Vance. Two days ago, he said: My position is we should have a full Senate vote on each one of these . . . Justice Department nominations. He also said: [I]f it's so important to confirm these folks, bring them to the floor for a vote. But now that is exactly what he is attempting to prevent today. For decades, the Senate confirmed U.S. attorney nominees of both political parties by voice vote or what is called unanimous consent in the Senate after they had been reported by the Judiciary Committee. Before the beginning of the Biden administration, the Senate had not required a rollcall vote on the confirmation of a U.S. attorney since 1975--almost 50 years. In fact, during the Trump administration, Senate Democrats allowed every one of Trump's U.S. attorney nominees--all 85-- to move through the committee and be confirmed by voice vote, unanimous consent. Let me tell you, as a Democrat in those days, I knew what I was getting with these U.S. attorneys working for Jeff Sessions, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and William Barr. I knew what was going to happen, but I respected the tradition of the Senate.…
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Dick Durbin
Democratic · Illinois

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