Ben Cardin actually said...

"I want to know what priority you intend to place on the Civil Rights Division within the Department of Justice."

"I want to make sure the Solicitor General is going to be sensitive to the role that you can play in making sure that the appropriate protections are maintained within our Constitution."

"Dean Kagan will bring distinction to the office, continue its highest traditions, be a forceful advocate for the United States before the Supreme Court."

"So we expect that message to be very clear to all the people in the Department of Justice as to restoring the confidence that partisan politics will not play a role in the deployment of career personn..."