Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to take a few moments to talk about Jon David Levy, who is a nominee for the Federal district court in Maine who will be voted on this afternoon. Senator Collins and I have come to the floor together to talk about this nominee and his extraordinary qualifications for this position. My history with Jon Levy is kind of interesting. He was one of my very first appointments to the bench when I was Governor of Maine in 1995. The important thing I wish to get across is I didn't know him. He wasn't a contributor, a supporter or a political ally in any way, shape or form. At that time he was a really smart lawyer with a judicial demeanor. He was recommended to me--he was discovered, if you will--by a nonpartisan judicial selection committee. I interviewed him, met him, liked him, and appointed him to the Maine District Court, which is our lower court of general jurisdiction, where it is really the people's court. He excelled in that court in terms of his decisionmaking skills as well as in his demeanor and his ability to interpret and apply the law in very real and practical circumstances. He was so good, as a matter of fact, that as I was leaving the governorship in the last year or so, I had the opportunity to appoint him to Maine's Supreme Court.…”