Political Quotes

“Today is October 5, the first anniversary of an event I hope I will not see again in the Senate. I have spoken many times about the Senate being the conscience of the Nation, and it should be. A year ago today, I believe the country was harmed by a party-line vote. That party-line vote defeated the nomination of Justice Ronnie White to the Federal district court in Missouri. Justice White, on the Missouri Supreme Court, had the highest qualifications. He passed through the Senate Judiciary Committee. He had the highest ABA ratings. He is a distinguished African American jurist. Yet when it came to a vote, every Democrat voted for him and every Republican voted against him. I believe that was a mistake and one we will regret. I spoke on this nomination on October 15 and 21 of last year and more recently this year. Fifty-one years ago this month--I was 9 years old--the Senate confirmed President Truman's nomination of William Henry Hastings to the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. That was actually the first Senate confirmation of an African American to our Federal courts--only 51 years ago. Thirty-one years ago, the Senate confirmed President Johnson's nomination of Thurgood Marshall to the U.S. Supreme Court. When we rejected Ronnie White, I wonder if we went backward or we moved forward.”