Political Quotes

“Mr. President, first let me compliment my colleague from Delaware not only for his typically excellent remarks today but also for his vigilance on these issues. He is a relatively newer member of the Judiciary Committee, but he has jumped into these issues with tremendous eagerness, intelligence, balance, and effectiveness. So I thank him for his great remarks. I too rise today in enthusiastic support of the nominee to the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, Caitlin Halligan. Ms. Halligan has been waiting 23 months for an up-or-down vote. More importantly, the entire country has been waiting to fill this position--a judgeship on the second most important court of the Nation--for 23 months. The question we are going to answer tomorrow is, Can we take some of our bipartisan good will, our desire to legislate and get things done for the country, and apply it to a nominee who is the very picture of moderation and mainstream legal thinking, a nominee who has dedicated her entire career to public service, and a nominee who would be only the sixth woman to join this court in its 212-year history? That is right--there have only been five women to serve on the DC Circuit in 212 years. The D.C. Circuit is currently one-third vacant. Four of its 11 slots--37 percent--are without active judges. Ms. Halligan is one of the two nominees for these four slots.…”