Dick Lugar: “I believe this debate is about the thought that we ought to have a vote up or down on each nominee. That is very…”

“I believe this debate is about the thought that we ought to have a vote up or down on each nominee. That is very important to the Senate, to our country, for fairness to the nominees and to the strength of the judiciary. It has been my privilege to serve almost 27 years, 15 of these years with a Republican President. The custom I knew as a young Senator and now in whatever age I am at is that you have a responsibility: If you are going to make recommendations to the President of the United States, do so with care. In the first 25 years of my career, I appointed a nominating committee in Indiana made up principally of very distinguished attorneys and judicial figures for whom I had respect and from all over my State. I knew these people commanded respect, and they were very helpful in identifying, each time a judicial vacancy occurred, several nominees.”