"While I am deeply disappointed that this compromise could clear the way for the confirmation of extremist anti-civil rights judges, I am also encouraged that the Senate has stepped back from the brink of the potentially disastrous nuclear option and has preserved the filibuster in principle and practice."

"The preservation of the right to filibuster is an important victory for everyone committed to protecting minority rights. In the 1950s and 60s, the filibuster was used to temporarily thwart civil rights legislation. Today, the filibuster is one of the last tools that we have to ensure that those civil rights gains are preserved."

"Now that the right to filibuster has been vindicated, I urge Senators on both sides of the aisle to take seriously their responsibility to exercise independent judgment in carrying out their constitutional role of advice and consent and to vote against the confirmation of extremist, anti-choice judges, including Janice Rogers Brown, William Pryor and Priscilla Owen."