Political Quotes

“I thank the distinguished senior Senator from Minnesota for her comments. She speaks from experience and knowledge, as has the senior Senator from Washington State, on this issue. In my years here, I have seen thousands of confirmation votes, literally at all levels, up to and including Cabinet members and Supreme Court justices. I have voted for a large majority of a President's nominations--both Republican and Democratic Presidents. Some may not have been those I would have chosen, but I felt that, at least, the President should be given the prerogative, if the person is qualified. Now, ideology is one thing, and qualification is another. Out of those thousands of confirmation votes, I have a hard time remembering any that were like this one. This one had a whirlwind confirmation hearing and committee vote. It was almost as though they were afraid to have the nominee actually have to appear and answer questions. And now the Senate is going to vote on the nomination of Betsy DeVos to lead the Department of Education. I will be very blunt. On the very little time that she was allowed to be shown to the public, she showed--and I certainly believe this--that she does not have the qualifications to uphold the Department of Education's primary goal--that of ensuring that all students--all students, not just the wealthy, but all students--have access to a quality, public education that allows them to succeed.…”