Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank the ranking member for that courtesy. Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution states quite clearly that the President shall nominate a candidate when there is a vacancy in the United States Supreme Court. I would like the record of this discussion to reflect that the term ``shall,'' as defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary--the relevant definition--is A, used to express a command or exhortation, and, B, used in laws, regulations, or directives to express what is mandatory. Under the Constitution that we are all sworn to uphold, the President of the United States has a mandatory duty. I think it is important that he accomplish it and nominate a candidate. I ask my colleagues to imagine if there were another mandatory duty of the President of the United States that this President refused to perform--imagine the cavalcade of Republican Senators to the studios of Fox News to decry and condemn this President for that omission. This should be no different. The President must and will do his constitutional duty. If and when he does that, then the constitutional burden of duty moves from the President to the U.S.…”