Orrin Hatch: “He answered the questions. Now, he may not have answered them the way some of my colleagues wanted him to. It was…”

“He answered the questions. Now, he may not have answered them the way some of my colleagues wanted him to. It was apparent they were trying to get him ensnarled. It reminds me of the Biblical days when the pharisees would try to ensnarl Jesus Christ. They would ask these questions, trying to ensnarl Him and make Him look ridiculous in front of the people. It was almost that bad in committee. He answered every question. Unfortunately, for them, he answered them precisely the way most Democrat nominees did; and that is, instead of going into how he would rule on matters that would come before him later in the court, he basically said: I will obey the law. I will sustain the law. I will follow the law regardless of my own personal views. That is what the Democrat nominees have said. And that is a correct answer. And it is a very good answer. His answers were more literate, more scholarly, more persuasive, in many of the questions that were asked than I have seen in most nominees. Again, I ask, why the double standard in this case? Why don't we recognize how great this young man is and allow him the same privileges that we have given to countless Democrats during the Clinton years when we confirmed 377 Clinton nominees to the Federal court--the second all-time highest confirmation rate in history, only 5 below the highest, and that was Ronald Reagan, who had 382?”