I think that they have a special duty to the American people, especially the people who have the least amount of power and least amount of protection.

We've had a very activist Supreme Court, especially in the last 10 or 15 years.

I wish the Senate as a whole would be able to do that.

The recommendation means a great deal.

In my view that's a resounding yes in these cases they misinterpreted Congressional intent and they distort the purposes of these laws.

Don't worry about being delicate with the Senate.

We had to fight for 3 weeks while it was being stalled after her nomination had been endorsed unanimously by the Judiciary Committee.

I think of the judiciary acting as a judiciary, the legislative body acting as a legislative body.

The plaintiffs' job in court will be much more difficult.

the very, very activist, Supreme Court, overturns them.

I share Senator Leahy's concerns about the delay in the completion of the confirmations of judges.

It is absolutely unacceptable that this is the only human rights case that has been filed by the DOJ.

By ensuring these human rights violators are punished, we send the message that the United States is not a safe haven for abusers.

We need to make sure that these cases are aggressively and proactively investigated and prosecuted.

The failure to prosecute those guilty of torture, genocide, and other war crimes makes it more likely that such crimes will be repeated.

Justice delayed is often justice denied, so district courts must be able to process cases in a timely manner.

We regarded the OPEN FOIA Act, which you, Chairman Leahy, and Senator Cornyn introduced earlier this year, as a much needed first step toward reining in this alarming trend.

I think the key to all of this is training, training, training, as well as getting broad-based support within each agency.

I have a very real concern about that. I make the argument that this Committee has jurisdiction over that and we should be discussing it.

How do we make sure that we have got it right in the law? How do we keep the pressure up?

I once told the Director of the CIA, William Casey, when he came up about the third time in 2 weeks to the Congress to say, 'I know I was supposed to have told you about' whatever the issue was, 'and now that it has been in the press, I…

I have always found in Government that inertia is a lot easier than initiative, and we will work for initiative.

I think this has been broadly implemented. I am hesitant to say 'fully implemented.'

For the first time, there will be a woman as Chair of the Committee, Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas.

The Federal Judgeship Act of 2009...would fulfill that responsibility.