Political Quotes

“the Senate is finally being allowed to vote today on the nomination of Michael Shea to be a district judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. It has taken far too long for this day to come, but he will be confirmed and I congratulate him and his family on his confirmation and I congratulate the two Senators from Connecticut on finally having this nomination come to a vote. I mention this not to urge that we confirm him because we will--and I will very proudly vote for him--but Michael Shea is another nominee whose nomination was stalled for months for no good reason. The Judiciary Committee--and the distinguished Presiding Officer serves on that committee and will recall--we gave his nomination strong bipartisan support more than 7 months ago. He has the support of both home State Senators--both Senator Lieberman and Senator Blumenthal. He has significant litigation experience. He is a graduate of Yale Law School. He clerked for the conservative Judge James Buckley in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit following graduation. We have to ask, why did it take 7 months for the Senate to finally consider his nomination--after waiting 7 months, we will talk about it for 20 minutes, and then we will vote on his nomination. Why the 7- month delay? Republican obstruction. After this vote, the Senate remains backlogged with 17 judicial nominations that go back to before the August recess.…”