Political Quotes

“I want to thank my friend--is it 43 years?--Senator Kaine for his comments. I apologize to the Presiding Officer and folks up front that I didn't hear all his comments. So you may be hearing from me a bit of repetition of what Tim has already said, but I think, in terms of Judge Ballou, who Senator Kaine has already mentioned, a little bit of repetition might be appropriate. I also join with Senator Kaine in urging all my colleagues, in about 8 minutes, to support President Biden's choice to serve as a U.S. District Court judge for the Western District of Virginia. He really is--Bob Ballou is a pillar of the Virginia legal community. I want to start with where Senator Kaine left off. He went through our whole vetting process under the Trump administration. And the fact that someone has, at least in terms of our criteria, I think, qualified as an extraordinarily competent, well-suited individual under both President Trump and President Biden is a real credit. And I give the White House credit for moving forward and putting his name forward. I think Senator Kaine has already mentioned the fact that he got bipartisan support in committee, something that, unfortunately, is becoming rarer and rarer; but, as probably has already been indicated, this is the kind of individual who has both the legal acumen and the temperament, I think, to be a great judge. He is a Virginia native, originally from Roanoke, a two-time UVA graduate.…”