William H. Frist: “I would like to proceed with my statement and would be happy to yield for a comment. For 214 years the threshold for…”

“I would like to proceed with my statement and would be happy to yield for a comment. For 214 years the threshold for advice and consent in the Senate was 50 votes. In the last Congress the minority party radically increased that threshold to 60, and that is wrong, and we will restore the tradition. This unprecedented threshold gave the minority a virtual veto, in effect control, over the judicial appointments of the President. The minority destroyed 214 years of Senate tradition, defied the clear intent of the Constitution, and undermined the Democratic will of the American people. You can't get much more radical than that. This new precedent cannot be allowed to stand in this Congress. We must restore the 214-year-old principle that every judicial nominee with majority support deserves an up-or-down vote. Why? First, the American people elect their Senators for a reason. It is to represent them. And they expect us to do our job. The Senate is a deliberative body. We are a proudly deliberative body. But we also have certain responsibilities which include giving advice and consent on the President's judicial nominations. When a judicial nominee comes to this floor and has majority support but is denied a simple up-or-down vote, Senators are simply not doing their job. And the sad fact is we did not do our job in the last Congress.…”