Thomas Daschle: “let me just say how disappointed I am at the decision made by our Republican colleagues. The distinguished chair of the…”

“let me just say how disappointed I am at the decision made by our Republican colleagues. The distinguished chair of the Judiciary Committee made a comment that I may have misunderstood. I think he said there really is no difference between the Owen nomination and the Prado nomination with regard to Senate consideration. There is a huge difference. The Owen nomination, of course, came before the Judiciary Committee in the last Congress. Her nomination was defeated in the Judiciary Committee. It is rare, almost unheard of, for a defeated nominee to be brought back before the committee and then brought back before the Senate. There is a significant difference between the Owen nomination and the nomination of Edward Prado. Edward Prado was before the committee and now before the Senate in part because of his overwhelming support on both sides of the aisle, because he came before the committee, presented his qualifications and, as a result of those qualifications, was voted out unanimously. There is absolutely no reason to hold Mr. Prado hostage to other controversial nominees. If we wait until we resolve the Owen nomination, Mr. Prado will never be confirmed because I doubt that Ms. Owen will be confirmed. So that is a criterion I hope will be reconsidered by our colleagues on the other side. Again, let me express my disappointment and my hope that our colleagues will reconsider as we bring this unanimous consent request back to the floor at a later date.”