Political Quotes

“I rise to express my strong support for the President's nomination of Ambassador Strobe Talbott to be Deputy Secretary of State. I am concerned that we are seeing on this nomination partisanship running rampant for the sake of partisanship. We have seen nominees, including many Deputy Secretaries of State--certainly, I have in the 20 years I have been here--very well-qualified people, people who sometimes I have agreed with and sometimes I have not agreed with, who have gone through with virtual unanimity. The Senate does this with the realization that administrations are granted wide latitude in whom they pick for these positions, especially if they are well-qualified people. And Ambassador Talbott is certainly well qualified. It appears to me, though, that this is not a debate on qualifications or abilities but unfortunately one that has evolved more into partisanship for the sake of partisanship. I think that is unfortunate, and as one who has worked very hard in both Republican and Democratic administrations to bring about consensus in foreign policy, I urge my colleagues not to fall into this trap.”