Watson Coleman: “I was one of those new Members of the Senate elected in the class of 2002 my friend and colleague from Louisiana talked…”

“I was one of those new Members of the Senate elected in the class of 2002 my friend and colleague from Louisiana talked about. We did lament the partisan divide that certainly has been growing in this body for a while but has been clearly reflected in the battle over judicial appointments. The President has the constitutional authority to appoint judges. That is very clear. It is an authority that has never, in the history of this country, up until last year, when my colleague across the aisle decided to filibuster those appointees, it has never in the history of this country required anything more than a majority vote. We are talking about judicial appointments. The President must appoint folks who are qualified. There are standards by which one can review that. The American Bar Association is involved in that process and they, in fact, grade nominees. In the case of the President's appointees, each of those nominees received the endorsement--in effect, the label, the standard--of ``qualified'' or ``highly qualified.'' They met the basic test that has to be met. What has happened in the last year is now a new political test put in place, a political test that has then required a new standard, an unprecedented standard in the history of this country. I repeat, in the history of this country, nominees who could get a majority vote have not been filibustered until last year.…”