Political Quotes

“Today the Senate will finally consider nominations to fill four vacancies on Federal district courts, all of which were reported by the Judiciary Committee unanimously in September and early October. All four nominees Edgardo Ramos and Andrew Carter, nominated to the Southern District of New York, James Rodney Gilstrap, nominated to fill a judicial emergency vacancy in the Eastern District of Texas, and Dana Christensen, nominated to the District of Montana are superbly qualified nominees with the strong support of their home state Senators. It should not have taken three months or more for the Senate to vote on their nominations. I thank the Majority Leader for securing a vote on these nominations, but I am disappointed that the Senate Republican leadership would not agree to a vote on the nomination of Jesse Furman to fill a third vacancy on the Southern District of New York. Like Edgardo Ramos, Andrew Carter and James Gilstrap, his nomination was reported by the Judiciary Committee on September 15 without opposition from a single member of the Committee, Democratic or Republican. Mr. Furman, an experienced Federal prosecutor who served as Counselor to Attorney General Michael Mukasey for two years during the Bush Administration, is a nominee with an impressive background and bipartisan support. There is no reason or explanation for why the Senate could not also consider his nomination today.…”