Political Quotes

“OK. I will take that reading of the law as an assumption that agrees with the position I put out there. I would say--if the Chair would give me some time in consideration of my reserving the right to object--I served in the majority for 2 years prior to the Senators who are here on the floor today, and I understand the frustration. I have been there. I was on the other side. It is difficult. In terms of numbers, we have more of President Obama's nominees cleared than President Bush's nominees at the same point in time. I wish to raise the question. I am going to comply. First, I don't have any problem explaining why I hold somebody. The BBG nominees: The BBG is in such a mess, I want to make sure I visit with every nominee before I give them a clearance to get on that board, because we are wasting three-quarters of a billion dollars there and not doing anything positive for our country as we spend that money. There are a lot of reasons why we hold people. One of the dangers of coming forward, from my experience as a Senator myself, of putting a hold on and then putting it out there, is this: If I want to do further work or study or have a question, the assumption with a hold is that you don't want them to move, and that may not be the case at all. The reason for a hold oftentimes is I want to look at the history, I want to look at the background, and I want to take the time to meet the individual myself. That fulfills the true obligation of advise and consent.…”