John Cornyn: “recently there has been a lot of discussion about, not just the role of the judiciary in our democracy, but the process…”

“recently there has been a lot of discussion about, not just the role of the judiciary in our democracy, but the process by which judges are selected. To me, this all boils down to something that Daniel Webster once said when he opined that ``justice is the greatest desire of man on Earth.'' It is, in fact, the judges, the ones who wear the black robe, the men or women who serve on local or State or Federal benches who are the ones with whom we identify that common yearning for justice. Unfortunately, here in the Senate over the last couple of years, we have gone through an experience that not only reeks of injustice but also of unfairness and, indeed, rises to the level of unconstitutionality when it comes to the filibuster used against President Bush's judicial nominees. Never, before these last 2 years, has a nominee for a Federal court, whether it is the Federal district court or circuit court or the United States Supreme Court, been blocked by the use of a filibuster when there was a bipartisan majority of the Senate who stood ready to confirm that judge--never before the current Congress, dating back now 2 years.”