Sam Brownback: “I am going to follow on the presentation of my colleague from Idaho on the issue of judges because it is the pending…”

“I am going to follow on the presentation of my colleague from Idaho on the issue of judges because it is the pending issue before the Senate. We are on the highway bill, and it is important legislation, but this issue is what has captured the attention of this body, the executive branch, and people across the country: the problem of getting judges approved. My colleague from Idaho well portrayed some of the nominees and what is taking place. I will point out a couple of common issues. I serve on the Judiciary Committee. We have had these individuals in front of us, in some cases, for 4 years. They are well known to this body, to the people here, and they have been fully vetted. The reason they are at this point in getting through is they are extremely well qualified. There may be philosophical differences with them, but if they are allowed to have a vote, they will be confirmed because they are well qualified. If they were not well qualified, if they were outside of the mainstream of judicial thought, they would not be confirmed and we would not be debating this issue. We have the Democratic Party deciding: OK, we are going to stop them. Actually, they are well qualified and we cannot stop them on a majority vote; we are going to stop them on a filibuster and require a supermajority vote. They have taken that tactic. It is unprecedented. They have taken that tactic which is within the rules of the Senate.…”