Political Quotes

“following my remarks and those of the Republican leader, the Senate will be in a period of morning business until 5:30 p.m., with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 10 minutes each, with the time equally divided and controlled in the usual form. At 5:30 p.m. the Senate will proceed to executive session and vote on confirmation of the following nominations: Julie E. Carnes to be U.S. circuit judge for the Eleventh Circuit; Michael Lawson to be Ambassador on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization; and Eunice Reddick to be Ambassador to the Republic of Niger. We expect a rollcall vote on the Carnes nomination and voice votes on the Lawson and Reddick nominations. It is such a shame that we have had to go through this stalling on Michael Lawson for the International Civil Aviation Organization. A terrible tragedy has taken place in the world--the shooting down of the Malaysian airplane with 290 totally innocent people on board, killing every one of them. That is his job. We tried to get him confirmed last week. No, they could not do that. We have tried to get him confirmed for months. They have held him up every step of the way. It is untoward that this is happening. They are holding up these nominations out of spite. That is too bad. This is a perfect example. Measure Placed on the Calendar--S. 2631 Mr. President, it is my understanding that S. 2631 is at the desk and due for a second reading. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore.…”