Patrick Leahy: “Mr. President, we are voting on our 42nd judicial nominee to be confirmed since last July when the Senate Judiciary…”

“Mr. President, we are voting on our 42nd judicial nominee to be confirmed since last July when the Senate Judiciary Committee reorganized after the Senator majority changed. With the confirmation of Robert Randall Crane to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas--and I predict we will accept him--the Senate will have resolved 7 judicial emergencies since we returned to session a few short weeks ago, 14 judicial emergencies since I became chairman. As of this week, the Senate has confirmed more judges in the last 9 months than were confirmed in 4 out of 6 years under the Republican leadership. In fact, the number of judicial confirmations over these past 9 months exceeds the number of judicial nominees confirmed during all 12 months for the years 2000, 1999, 1997, and 1996. During the 6 rac{1}{2} ext{ years the Republicans controlled the Senate, judicial nominations averaged 38 a year. We have done more than that in 9 months.}”