Orrin Hatch: “As everyone here knows, I do not like to engage in the typical statistics judo that seems to be intrinsic to this issue.…”

“As everyone here knows, I do not like to engage in the typical statistics judo that seems to be intrinsic to this issue. But I do want everyone to understand that, despite the progress that was just mentioned, we really have a lot more work to do. Look at the percentages: The Senate has exercised its advice and consent duty on only 21 percent of President Bush's circuit nominees this year. The other 79 percent of our work remains unfinished. And our overall record is not much better: the Senate has confirmed only 37.5 percent of all judicial nominations we received from President Bush. We will conclude our work by leaving nearly 100 vacancies in the judicial branch. Now, these facts are not escaping wider attention outside the Judiciary Committee.”