Political Quotes

“I thank the senior Senator from Maine for her kind words, and I would note both for William Kayatta and for the people of Maine she has fought long and hard for this nomination. She did last year and she has this year. I am glad we are going to be finally voting on it because every time I would meet her anywhere in the halls or anywhere else it would be: What about Kayatta? She knows he, of course, had my strong support, as did another New Englander, former Justice and now judge, David Souter. I am sorry it has taken so long. I look at a nominee like this, where the senior Senator from Maine, Ms. Collins, her former colleague, Senator Snowe, and now her current colleague, Senator King, have all supported this person from Maine. In the past, especially with somebody extraordinarily well qualified, as he is, a nomination like that would be out of the committee and off the floor within a week. We have to go back to those times. If we have a contentious nominee, if we have somebody who needs to be debated, let's debate them. But when we have a person strongly supported by their home State Senators and who has the advantage of being highly qualified by anybody's standards--Republican, Democrat, or anybody else--then they ought to get a vote. It makes no sense for Senate Republicans to have stalled nominations like that of William Kayatta, but this is their track record and their pattern over the last 4 years.…”