Political Quotes

“I start with a statement the Republican leader made on the Senate floor in 2007: ``I will never agree to retreat from our responsibility to confirm qualified judicial nominees.'' I wish to repeat: ``I will never agree to retreat from our responsibility to confirm qualified judicial nominees.'' My Republican counterpart said that. They are his own words. Fast forward 9 years to today, now. Not only is the senior Senator from Kentucky abandoning his responsibility to confirm a Supreme Court Justice, he is leading the entire Republican caucus to retreat from their constitutional obligation. This is unfortunate because the Republican leader was right 9 years ago. As Senators, we have a responsibility to uphold a number of things, but one certainly is the Constitution. That responsibility is clearly outlined in the oath we take before we are sworn into office--right there. Every one of them has done it. What are we asked to confirm, to swear to? We swear to ``support and defend the Constitution of the United States.'' We swear to ``bear true faith and allegiance to the same.'' We swear to ``faithfully discharge the duties of office.'' I wish to repeat that. We swear to ``faithfully discharge the duties of office.'' One cannot see how Republicans can claim to uphold this oath as they block the President from appointing a new Supreme Court Justice. Senate Republicans are making pledges of a different sort these days.…”