Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to express my opposition to the nomination of Andrew Hurwitz to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. I would first note that this year we have already confirmed 25 of President Obama's judicial nominees. At this point in 2004, the last Presidential election year during a President's first term, the Senate had confirmed only 11 of President Bush's judicial nominees. At precisely the same point in 1996, during President Clinton's first term, the Senate had confirmed only three judicial nominees. So this year we have confirmed more than twice as many of President Obama's judicial nominees as we did during a comparable period for President Bush and more than eight times as many as we did for President Clinton. Of the nominees we have already confirmed so far this year, two are now serving as appellate judges on the Ninth Circuit. The Ninth Circuit is an important appellate court in America, with jurisdiction over about 60 million Americans--roughly 20 percent of our country's total population. Approximately one-third of all reversals handed down by the Supreme Court last term were from the Ninth Circuit. Indeed, the Ninth Circuit has developed something of a reputation for eccentric legal theories and unusual results. As one commentator suggested, ``There should be two Supreme Courts, one to reverse the U.S.…”