Orrin Hatch: “I cannot see a good reason. It is a mystery to me why our Democratic colleagues refuse an up-or-down vote. Like the…”

“I cannot see a good reason. It is a mystery to me why our Democratic colleagues refuse an up-or-down vote. Like the distinguished Senator from Texas said--and I really admire the Senator from Texas, who is a lawyer, from the University of Texas, and the Senator from North Carolina, Senator Dole, who is a lawyer, who graduated from Harvard Law School. I think the other side ought to be listening to the two of you, especially with regard to an eminent woman jurist named Priscilla Owen, and another jurist named Janice Rogers Brown, and another one named Carolyn Kuhl. To make a long story short, if they don't like these nominees, then vote them down. The reason they are stopping them is because all three of them have a majority of the Senate willing to vote for them. They are flying in the face of the advise and consent clause, refusing to give them the dignity of an up-or-down vote. I think women across this country ought to be outraged by it--liberal women, moderate women, and conservative women. It is a slap in the face to every one of them, the way these three women are being treated by the other side. I have heard for 27 years how much greater they are for women. Don't believe it. If they were, they would not be arguing against these wonderful women nominees. Don't believe that for one second. It is all politics. The only reason they are talking about jobs, in all honesty, is because they don't have the arguments against these eminent women lawyers and judges.”