Political Quotes

“Mr. President, before I returned home for the August recess, I came to the floor to call on the Senate to take up pending judicial nominations. Once again, today I join my colleagues in calling for action on the crisis that is facing our Federal courts. We had an unusually long recess--what is called the August recess, but it actually started in mid-July. We have a brief period of time when we are back in session before we are about to have yet another recess prior to the elections. I understand the Senate has been in session fewer days than the Senate has been in session in some decades--60 years. I feel it necessary that we step up and deal with this crisis in the Federal courts and do our jobs. I call on my colleagues in the majority to do our jobs. The obstruction that we have seen with regard to filling judicial vacancies is harming our Federal courts and our Nation, our economy, and individuals who come before those courts to seek justice. In this current Congress, only 22 judges have been confirmed by the Senate. As we have discussed today, we currently have 90 vacancies on the Federal courts. Thirty-two--one-third--have been declared judicial emergencies. Yet before the Senate right now, we have Presidential nominees for these vacancies--27 in number--that are available for our consideration. Each of those names has garnered a bipartisan majority from the Judiciary Committee. A bipartisan majority has supported those Presidential nominees.…”