Political Quotes

“it is not a question of liberal or conservative. As I recall, when the Democrats were in control of the Senate during 6 years overlapping the Reagan and Bush Presidencies, we voted to confirm about 99 percent of the nominations of President Reagan and President Bush. Justice Scalia is considered one of the most conservative Members of the Supreme Court. As I recall, he got a unanimous vote from the Republicans and Democrats in the Senate Judiciary Committee. I believe he had a unanimous vote on the floor of the Senate. Let's not use this shibboleth. We have also had a number of judicial nominees who said they were members of the National Rifle Association and a number who have said they have defended conservative organizations. I never remember a single one having difficulty being confirmed. Let's not use that. If we want to assume for the sake of argument that the Ninth Circuit is dominated by liberal activist judges, these critics urge the Senate to reject the confirmation of new judges. They are not letting two basically moderate judges come, thereby adding to the mix. It does not make a great deal of sense to me that they want to keep the court exactly the way it is. I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record a letter from Judge Procter Hug that points out there are a number of circuits that have far higher reversal rates than the Ninth Circuit.”