Political Quotes

“Tonight we embark upon an extraordinary session for the next 30 hours. Republicans and Democrats will debate the merits of three judicial nominees. We will be considering the meaning of our constitutional responsibility to advise and consent on nominations. We will discuss whether there is a need to enact filibuster reform so that nominations taken to the floor can get a vote. At the end of this time, the Senate will either vote on the nominees or we will try to break the minority's filibusters through cloture votes. Our goal is very simple: It is an up-or-down vote on these nominees. People can vote them up or they can vote them down. Just give us a vote. We hold this extraordinary session for truly extraordinary reasons. In the history of this Senate, through 107 Congresses, the filibuster was never used to block confirmation of judicial nominees enjoying majority support. When the Senate has refused to confirm a nominee brought to the floor, it has done so on an up-or-down vote. Permitting a vote was fair to the nominees and fair to the President who sent them to us. In theory, the filibuster has always been available as a tool to derail a nomination, but until this Congress it has not been successfully used. On rare occasions, confirmation filibusters were attempted, but the Senate always thwarted them. Up until now, no judicial nominee has ever failed on a filibuster. For the past 200 years, no judicial nominee has ever failed on a filibuster.”