Political Quotes

“I listened to the statements made by the Republican leadership this morning on the floor of the U.S. Senate. If one has a sense of history and memory, their statements are preposterous. The last speaker came before us and said: The Democrats are even threatening to end the filibuster in retribution. Well, let's stop and think for a moment. Was there a filibuster affecting the Supreme Court nominees? Was there a requirement of 60- vote margins if there is controversy associated with filling the vacancy on the Supreme Court? There was until one Senator from Kentucky, Mr. Mitch McConnell, eliminated the filibuster when it came to the Supreme Court. This so-called democratic institution of the filibuster was eliminated when it came to Supreme Court nominees by that same Senator McConnell, who comes to the floor and says that the Democrats have reached an outrageous position: They are threatening the future of the filibuster. He eliminated it. When there were changes made in the filibuster on other court appointments, Senator Reid was careful not to include the Supreme Court, but Senator McConnell did. Senator McConnell has brought us to this moment. Think how different it would be--how different it would be today if the nominee of this President were subject to a filibuster. If it took 60 votes, it means the person nominated would have to be moderate in their approach. We don't expect that from this President in filling the vacancy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.…”