Harry Reid: “If there is a Senator who believes there is a problem with any judge, whether it is the one we are going to vote on at 5…”

“If there is a Senator who believes there is a problem with any judge, whether it is the one we are going to vote on at 5 o'clock or the two we are going to vote on tomorrow, or Thursday, they have every right to come to talk at whatever length they want. But with Judge Paez, it has been 4 years. There has been ample opportunity to talk about this man. He has bipartisan support. I have no problem with people talking about the decisions he has rendered. He has been a judge for about 18 years in State and Federal courts. I think there has been an exhaustive review of those. My only point is, 4 years is too long. I also repeat some of the things the ranking member of the committee has said. It is a myth that judges are not traditionally confirmed in Presidential election years. It is simply not true. Recall that in 1980, a Presidential election year, 64 judges were confirmed; in 1984, 44; in 1988--we talked about that when we had a Democrat Senate and Republican President--42 were confirmed; in 1992, we had 66. That is the record. I think that really says a lot.…”