When terrorists strike, first responders are the first people we turn to.

The attorney general plays a role in bringing people together, ... But Senator Ashcroft has often taken aggressively activist positions on a number of issues that deeply divide the American people. He had a right to take these positions, but we also have a right and duty to evaluate how these position will affect his conduct as attorney general.

The American people have every reason to expect Congress to achieve the right balance in defending their rights while advancing their security, but the Republican-backed conference report fails to do that.

A lot of people in my state of Vermont are gun owners.

We need to consider nominations as thoroughly and carefully as the American people deserve. No one is entitled to a free pass to a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.

Our goal is to mend it or extend it, not end it.