I look forward to consulting with the president on the O'Connor seat. Justice O'Connor has been a voice of moderation and reason on the court and should be replaced by someone who, like her, embodies the fundamental American values of fairness, liberty and equality.

I believe it is essential that we hold both the intelligence agencies and senior policy-makers accountable.

There was a discussion of names. It was mainly our suggesting names to him and talking about names to him. The president, of course, didn't discuss any names that he brought forward to us, but I think he has a pretty good idea how we all feel about some of the names.

I have reluctantly concluded that this nominee has not satisfied the high burden that would justify my voting for his confirmation based on the current record.

The Republican abuse of power comes at great cost to our country, and we can see it in the present state of our union. Special interests and the well-connected have grown stronger, while our national security, our economy, our health care and our government have grown weaker.

Since 9/11, we have spent only $500 million to secure our mass transit system. That's a sum we spend every three days in Iraq.

There's nothing more important to a Congress or a president than war. I think the American people are entitled to know how we got there. That's what this is all about.

This is really good news for every American. Checks and balances have been protected.