Arlen Specter: “The current presidential race provides the Senate with a unique opportunity to come to grips with the confirmation…”

“The current presidential race provides the Senate with a unique opportunity to come to grips with the confirmation process of Federal judges and to make some very fundamental commitments and very fundamental changes to our process. We are in the midst of a Presidential campaign, and I think it is fair to say the outcome is uncertain. It has fluctuated tremendously on both nomination pictures. But, this is a time, with the outcome uncertain, when neither side of the aisle would know who will gain an advantage; we would not know whose ox was being gored. It is a time, starting in the next Congress--if we can't act now, and my fundamental plea is that we act at the present time--we ought not to wait 11 months, until January 20, 2009. This is a unique time to tackle the problem for the future. On April 1, 2004, I offered S. Res. 327, and I now offer the substance of that resolution again.”