Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I was heartened by the dialog between Senators Reid and McConnell this morning, talking about more bipartisan cooperation, civility, and cooperation to try to deal with appropriations bills. I would like to commend to the Republican leader not just those important issues but the equally important issue of judicial nominations. It is no secret that the Senate's process for considering nominations has deteriorated under the Obama administration because of resistance from the Republican side of the aisle. It is a long-honored tradition in America that a President of the United States fills vacancies on the Federal courts with the advice and consent of the Senate. That has been the process since the beginning of this Republic. Yet today we find stacked on our calendar literally 19 judicial nominees pending on the Senate floor. Fourteen of these nominees were reported from the Judiciary Committee last year, some of them as far back as October. They have been sitting here for months. Seventeen of the nominees were reported out of committee with broad bipartisan support, 12 of them unanimously. Ten nominees, incidentally, are supported by their Republican home State Senators. The bottom line is that judicial nominees with no controversy and with widespread bipartisan approval are being held up on the Senate calendar and not approved. Why? I can tell you why. It is fairly clear.…”