Political Quotes

“today, the Senate finally considers the nomination of Susan Carney of Connecticut to fill a judicial emergency vacancy on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Ms. Carney has twice been considered by the Judiciary Committee and has twice been reported with strong bipartisan support, first last year and again in February. The majority of the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have twice joined in supporting this nomination. I expect that she will be confirmed with significant bipartisan support. This is one of several judicial nominations that the minority refused to consider, despite being favorably reported by the Judiciary Committee last year. Hers will be the 16th nomination confirmed this year that could and, in my view, should have been considered last year. That is right: Of the 24 judicial nominations the Senate will have considered and confirmed this year, including Ms. Carney, almost 70 percent were delayed from last year. We have only been able to confirm eight judicial nominees who had hearings and were reported for the first time this year. So when some say we are taking ``positive action'' on large percentages of nominees, what this shows is how many unobjectionable nominees were stalled last year by objections from the minority. This is only the third circuit court nomination the Senate has been allowed to consider all year. There are several others awaiting final Senate action.…”