Pete Domenici: “I want to respond. The Senator from Nevada does so well that I was almost going to come over and sit beside him and say…”

“I want to respond. The Senator from Nevada does so well that I was almost going to come over and sit beside him and say he is right. The fact is, he is not right. At this late stage--when he knows there is hardly a risk of our being able to get appropriations bills finished in a timely manner to keep the Government open--to tie appropriations bills up because a judge has not been appointed is not right. It might be that there is an argument about the judicial appointment, but is it right in the waning days of Congress, when we have about 25 working days left, for somebody to come along and say: Now it is my turn. I will not let any appropriations bills be approved by the Senate unless certain people are appointed to the judicial and judge positions in this country? I think it is not. Second, this is not a partisan issue. I don't know if it is a minority versus majority party issue, because I think in the final analysis there are some people on that side of the aisle who would like to vote on their issue and who may not agree with the distinguished minority leader as to their interests for their respective States. My last point is that we protect minority rights. But I wonder in this case, when it is obvious that Missouri River upper and lower groups are going to argue about this, if it is a question of protecting minority rights. It stands in the way of getting a vote on the issue.”