Political Quotes

“Madam President, it is August, and the Senate is in session getting the people's work done. As the majority leader said last week, the reason we can't afford to take this time off is because we have so much to do. Of course, one of the things we could do is agree to an expedited confirmation of noncontroversial nominations--something our Democratic friends have not been willing to do to this point. Indeed, they engaged in unprecedented obstruction of some of President Trump's nominees, even those who are not controversial. For example, we just confirmed two Federal appellate court judges in a strong bipartisan manner last week. These, of course, were both highly distinguished lawyers, and I am sure they will do a great job on the Fourth Circuit. When we see nominations get overwhelmingly bipartisan votes, we wonder why we had to delay these nominations not only for the judiciary but also other important nominations, such as at the State Department and in other areas. Frankly, because of the delay, the vacancies impair the ability of government to be responsive to the needs of the American people. It is a shame we have seen that kind of mindless obstruction to President Trump's nominees who, again, are not even controversial. While we focus sometimes on how divided we are--and I know the American people sometimes feel like we are unwilling to find common ground--it is not true that we don't occasionally come together and do important things.…”