Political Quotes

“Mr. President, right this minute, right here on the floor of the Senate, we face one of those ``issues of great national significance'' that the majority leader wrote about in the Wall Street Journal. It is an exploding number of judicial vacancies. The Washington Post recently reported: Of 673 U.S. district court judgeships, 67--or 10 percent-- are vacant under President Obama, nearly twice as many as at this point of Republican George W. Bush's presidency and 50 percent higher than at this time under Bill Clinton or George H.W. Bush. The number of federally designated district court ``judicial emergencies''--where seats carry particularly heavy caseloads or have been open for an extended period--is also roughly double what it was in May 2008 and May 2000. Addressing those emergencies is good for the country. Keeping our courts functioning is good for the country. Confirming nominees who have the support of Republicans and Democrats is good for the country. But just a minute ago, the majority leader blocked confirmation of all 15 noncontroversial judges who are waiting for votes. That is not putting the country first; that is putting politics first. It is forcing the will of a small number of extremist Republicans on the entire country, and the integrity of our judicial branch is suffering for it. So let me try this again. Surely we can agree to confirm the four oldest nominations on this list--two Democratic recommendations and two Republican recommendations.…”