Thomas Daschle: “That is helpful. With that assurance, I will certainly not object to the request propounded by the majority leader. He…”

“That is helpful. With that assurance, I will certainly not object to the request propounded by the majority leader. He has made it to me privately. It is my hope we will continue to work. These are important matters. As the majority leader has heard me say, and others say, now for some time, in some cases they have been pending not for months but for years. For anyone to be held that long is just an extraordinary unfairness, not only to the nominees but to the system itself. The majority leader has also noted that a cloture vote is an unfortunate matter. Actually, a cloture vote is a recognition of the difficulty to move judges. A cloture vote is probably no more unfortunate than a hold. We have people who are maintaining holds on judges, which is also very unfortunate. A hold is nothing more than an intent to filibuster. So I hope our colleagues will drop their holds and will recognize that taking hostages in this form is not the right way to proceed and does not live up to the traditions of the Senate when it comes to the expeditious consideration of individuals who want to serve in public life.”