Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise to speak in support of the confirmation of Professor Goodwin Liu to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. As a member of the Judiciary Committee for the past 2 years, I have had the opportunity to meet with Professor Liu and vote on his nomination on several occasions. He is a singularly talented individual, and I wish to associate myself with the remarks all my colleagues have made in support of his confirmation. But the strongest arguments I have heard in support of Professor Liu haven't come from my colleagues. In fact, they haven't even come from a Democrat. No, the most persuasive arguments I have heard for confirming Professor Liu come from the former chief ethics lawyer for the administration of President George W. Bush, a gentleman named Richard Painter. Professor Painter, a Republican, is now a prominent law professor at the University of Minnesota. Earlier this year, Professor Painter wrote a lengthy article that systematically catalogued Professor Liu's strengths and systematically answered his critics. This is his conclusion: In sum, Liu is eminently qualified. He has support from prominent conservatives. . . . He is pragmatic and open- minded, not dogmatic or ideological. . . . Many, though by no means all, of his scholarly views do not align with conservative ideology or with the policy positions of many elected officials in the Republican Party. . . . Nevertheless, his views are part of the American legal mainstream.…”