Political Quotes

“I am very hopeful we will be able to make progress. Again, the three Senators who are speaking now, with Senator Daschle, have been working very hard with our colleagues to try to reach an agreement. But we have been unsuccessful. We will keep moving ahead, and I am optimistic these three nominees will be confirmed shortly. I do want to add, really for the benefit of my colleagues, that progress is being made. As my colleagues know, one of the nominees, Roberts, went back to committee, and the understanding was that with him going back to committee, we would have votes, up-or-down votes, on both Roberts and Cook. That is the background. We have been working on that for actually several weeks, and that process is underway. So we look forward to having that become a reality. That first step, with Roberts going back to committee, was taken. And now the expectation is, and the general agreement is, we are moving in the direction that we will, at some point in time--we have not been able to lock in the time--have votes on both Roberts and Cook.”