Political Quotes

“my friend from Alabama is right. There is no question that the process is very cumbersome. I hope in the future that we can maintain our record. We have a clear conscious. We cleared 54 last week. It was really the first week that we were in power because committees were just organized. With the leadership having changed, it slowed things down a little bit. But there wasn't much the Republicans could have done while they controlled the Senate because of the funnel that just doesn't allow these nominations to get here. We have worked diligently today. Our staff worked. I told one of Senator Lott's staff people just a minute ago that I spoke to Senator Biden earlier today, and we had told him that prior to the August recess we would clear all of those that already had hearings. We received a call back from Senator Biden's staff, and he told us that he spoke to Senator Biden and Senator Biden hopes to clear as many as 20 from the Foreign Relations Committee prior to the recess. We recognize it is an embarrassment to this country--as powerful as the United States is--not having an Ambassador in a country. That is something that is good for the country. It is not because of Democrats or Republicans. The Senator from Alabama is absolutely right. For the vast majority of these people, there is no problem at all. We just have to get them through the hearing process, which is sometimes cumbersome.”