WASHINGTON—At approximately 4 p.m. today, U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (AL), Ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the following remarks regarding the announcement of an intended confirmation hearing date for Judge Sonia Sotomayor:

 

 Rush Transcript:

 

 

 

 

 

“I have to say I'm disappointed this morning that we learned from media reports—I did—that the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Leahy, announced we would begin the hearings July 13 for Judge Sotomayor.

 

 

 

 

 

 “I believe that's too early.  I don't believe it's necessary.  It's far more important we do this right than we do it quick.  When the announcement was made President Obama said that the time we should look to is October 1 when the new Supreme Court term starts.   And I think that always was an achievable goal something I said I believe we could achieve and do in a right way.  

 

 

 

 

 

 “So the question is, can we get all this done in this rush-rush fashion?  It will be the shortest confirmation time of any recent nominee.   It is a time well shorter than that of Justice Roberts, now Chief Justice Roberts.  And we had a need to move that a bit because he was confirmed, as it turned out, September 29^th, a couple of days before the new term began – and he was going to be chief justice.

 

 

 

 

 

 “But the last nominee whose record was much like this nominee, Justice Alito, was coming up in late – in December  –  and the Democratic Leader then on the Judiciary Committee, Senator Leahy, asked that it be put off until after Christmas.   And the Republican Chairman at that time, Senator Specter, despite President Bush's desire it move forward, he said, no, I don’t think that's a reasonable request and we put it off.   There was some 90-some-odd days before that confirmation occurred and well over 70 days before the hearings began. 

 

 

 

 

 

 “I just want to say, Mr. President, first and foremost we are committed to a fair and just hearing but we need to examine the record of 3,500 probably more than 4,000 cases.  In addition she has given a lot of speeches and written law review articles and those need to be analyzed because make no mistake about it, this is the only time, the only opportunity, this Congress and the American people have, to play a role in what would turn out to be a lifetime appointment to the federal bench, of independence and unaccountability for the rest of their life.  So I think it is important we do this thing and we do it right.  I thank Senator McConnell for his leadership in insisting we do it right. 

 

 

 

“I believe from what we know today the timeframe that is set forth is unrealistic.  More than that, it's not necessary.  Let's do this right.  Take our time.  And do it in a way that I hope, as I've said repeatedly, this would be what people could say is the finest confirmation process we've ever had.  I thank the chair. I yield the floor.”