Tina Smith: “I thank the Chair and our side for the time to speak on this issue. This is an issue and a moment in Senate history…”

“I thank the Chair and our side for the time to speak on this issue. This is an issue and a moment in Senate history which, frankly, I wished there could have been found a way to have avoided. I have been among those who have said to my leader: You have a qualified yes for my support to try and negotiate. Those negotiations have apparently broken down. So then it falls to each of us to study and to take as seriously as we can the weight and moment of this decision and how we should come down on the issue of filibustering judges who have majority support. I ran for the Senate because I value this body, appreciate its unique role in the history of our Nation, and very much want to see it succeed in doing the people's business. So I have taken as seriously as I can the decision I have made to be an unqualified supporter of what the majority leader is attempting to do here. When I ran for the Senate, I promised the people of Oregon that when it came to advising and consenting on judges, I would not have a litmus test, that I would respect the results of elections, that I would evaluate nominees for their academic achievement, their judicial temperament, for their personal integrity, and I would then vote on that basis without regard to a cultural litmus test.…”