Barbara Mikulski: “I rise to speak against this so-called nuclear option. This is a sad day for the Senate because I believe we are about…”

“I rise to speak against this so-called nuclear option. This is a sad day for the Senate because I believe we are about to fracture 200 years of precedent and tradition. I think we are about to fracture what I had hoped would be a bipartisan approach to solving the compelling problems we face in the United States of America, and the Republicans are about to change the rules in the middle of the game. One of the hallmarks of the United States of America is always fair play. And fair play means a belief and respect for the rules because we are a nation that believes in rules and in the rule of law. Whenever we are in competitive situations, we believe in rules. You don't change the rules in the middle of the game. You don't change the rules in a game you are losing. But here especially there is no reason to change because the Bush administration is not losing. They have had more nominees confirmed than almost any other Administration in recent history. This is a manufactured crisis. There are those who say there is a crisis in terms of confirming judges. There is no crisis. George Bush is not losing. Right now, right this minute, we have confirmed 208 of the President's nominees for the bench. That is a 95-percent confirmation rate. I would think that getting 95% of what you want would make you declare victory. But, oh, no, that is not good enough.…”