Political Quotes

“When the Senate recessed more than a month ago, 22 judicial nominees to fill vacancies in courtrooms around the country were left pending, awaiting a Senate vote. Today, Senate Republicans have agreed to vote on just one of those nominees. I want to commend Senator Harkin for working with Senator Grassley and the Majority Leader to get this vote on the nomination of Stephanie Rose of Iowa. I urge votes on the other nominees, as well, without further delay. There are currently 78 Federal judicial vacancies. Judicial vacancies during the last few years have been at historically high levels and have remained near or above 80 for nearly the entire first term of the President. Nearly one out of every 11 Federal judgeships is currently vacant. Vacancies on the Federal courts are more than two and one half times as many as they were on this date during the first term of President Bush. One key reason for these numerous vacancies and for the extensive backlog of nominees is that Senate Republicans allowed votes on just one district court nominee per week for the last seven weeks before the August recess. This unnecessarily slow pace of consideration of judicial nominees has disserved the American people and should not continue. The across-the-board obstruction and foot dragging from Senate Republicans since day one of President Obama's tenure means that we are likely to complete his first term with more judicial vacancies than when he took office.…”