Thomas Daschle: “I felt it was important to come back to the floor for just a couple of minutes to respond and to make sure the American…”

“I felt it was important to come back to the floor for just a couple of minutes to respond and to make sure the American people are clear and the record is clear with regard to judicial nominations and what I would view to be the rest of the story. The rest of the story can be found on three charts. We have heard a lot this morning about the intransigence of the Senate, about how much the Senate is in crisis because we haven't confirmed nominations; about how the system is broken. In South Dakota, we like to say, If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I have three charts to prove that it 'ain't broke.' One-hundred and twenty-four is the first chart. One-hundred and twenty-four judicial nominees have been confirmed in this administration. That is a record. There is no administration we can find that has had a better record than this. One-hundred and twenty-four circuit and district court nominees have been confirmed since this President has taken office. Here is the number that have not: That is right--2; 124 to 2. We have done a little math. Here is the third chart. That is a 98.4- percent approval rate.”