James M. Talent: “I wish I could say it is a pleasure to be here with you at 4 o'clock in the morning. It is certainly always enjoyable to…”

“I wish I could say it is a pleasure to be here with you at 4 o'clock in the morning. It is certainly always enjoyable to see you. This is a subject that is certainly worth discussing and it is extremely important. I have not been all that involved in it before. There are a number of other issues on which I have been working. I am here this evening because, when I look at the qualifications of the four nominees we are considering, Judge Owen, General Pryor, Judge Kuhl, and Justice Brown, those qualifications to me seem so outstanding that it seems that, had these nominees come up in the past, they would not only have been voted on but they would have been approved, and not only approved but approved by an overwhelming majority; as the Senator from Pennsylvania said a little while ago, approved by a voice vote. Now they are being filibustered. For the first time in the Nation's history, court of appeals nominations by the President of the United States are being stopped on the Senate floor by a minority using the filibuster.”