Amy Klobuchar: “I thank my colleague from Virginia for his well-thought-out argument and the evidence he put out here for the Presiding…”

“I thank my colleague from Virginia for his well-thought-out argument and the evidence he put out here for the Presiding Officer, a former law professor who believes in evidence. I think it is important that we look at the facts. I wish to back up some of the facts to why this workload argument doesn't make sense, even when it is put out clearly for the women nominees and it wasn't put out recently for the male nominees. But here are the facts: When George W. Bush was President, the Senate confirmed his nominees to fill four empty seats on the DC Circuit. That was not long ago. Under President Obama, there have been four vacancies on the court. There were four under Bush and four under Obama. The difference? All of President Bush's nominees were confirmed by the Senate. It is important to note that one of President Obama's nominees--as was pointed out by my colleague from Virginia--was confirmed by the Senate. I guess that means one guy is confirmed and then these three seats are still open for which women have been put forward. Some people apparently think there is a problem with the numbers, but let's look at the actual numbers. These same people have supported having more judges on another court that actually has fewer pending cases. The reason we use that standard-- pending cases--is those are the active cases. They are not the pro forma orders which are issued quickly.…”