Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to join many of my colleagues who have come to the floor to speak about our country's third branch of government; that is, our courts. Senators have a solemn obligation to advise and consent on the President's nominees to our Federal courts. As a member of the Judiciary Committee, I take that obligation very seriously. As Senator Merkley--who is heading up this evening's speeches and has brought a number of people together--knows, it is not just an obligation of members of the Judiciary Committee; it is also an obligation of Senators, when they look at the judges who are coming out of their particular States, to make sure that this is a person--whoever the nominee is--who represents our country as an independent voice and someone who respects precedent as a member of the Federal bench, whether it is on the Supreme Court level or whether it is on the circuit or Federal district court levels. In the U.S. Senate, we are here to do the people's business and not the President's business. This is an important job, particularly when it comes to nominees to our Nation's highest Court. The next member of the Supreme Court will make decisions that will affect the lives of people across the country for generations. In the last decades, the Supreme Court has decided whom you can marry, where you can go to school, and--for people like my grandpa, who was a miner and who worked 1,500 feet underground his whole life--how safe your workplace is.…”