Political Quotes

“Mr. President, today I am pleased to offer my strong support to the nomination of James Paul Oetken to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In Mr. Oetken, President Obama has sent to the Senate a nominee who we all should be proud to support. J. Paul Oetken is a brilliant lawyer with a remarkable level of accomplishment. A graduate of the University of Iowa, where he received his bachelor of arts degree with highest distinction, and Yale Law School, where he received his juris doctorate, Mr. Oetken has built a successful career spanning the public and private sectors. During the Clinton Administration, he served as an attorney-adviser at the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel and at the White House as associate counsel to the President. Prior to that, he clerked for three distinguished Federal judges, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun. He currently serves as senior vice president and associate general counsel at Cablevision Systems Corporation, a New York Company, following several years in private practice. Throughout his career, J. Paul Oetken has demonstrated a strong commitment to public service and civil rights, especially for gay and lesbian Americans. He has worked pro bono on amicus briefs defending the rights of LGBT Americans against laws that discriminate based on an individual's sexual orientation. Mr. Oetken is the first openly gay man to be nominated to serve on the U.S.…”