Political Quotes

“since the beginning of our Nation, the U.S. Senate has maintained an important bipartisan tradition of giving fair consideration to Supreme Court nominees. Article II, section 2 of the Constitution is unambiguous about the respective duties and responsibilities of the President and the Senate when there is a Supreme Court vacancy. The Founders did not intend these roles to be optional or something to be disregarded. Article II also states that the President shall hold his office during the term of 4 years, not 3 years or 3 years and 1 month, but 4 full years. The Constitution plainly says that it is the President's duty to nominate a Supreme Court Justice and it is the Senate's duty to provide advice and consent on that nomination. Throughout our history, Senators have done their constitutional duty by considering and confirming Supreme Court Justices in the final year of a Presidency. In fact, the Senate has done that 14 times, most recently in 1988, when the Senate confirmed Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was President Reagan's nominee to the Supreme Court. He sent that nomination over to the Democratic majority in this body. Almost 28 years ago exactly to the day in February of 1988, the Democratic majority in the Senate confirmed Republican President Ronald Reagan's judicial nomination, Anthony Kennedy, unanimously 97-0. They didn't debate whether it was a Presidential year and whether they could act. It was in the middle of a hard-fought election.…”