Miers, Hutchison, Perry, Craddick, Bell, Perkins, and Friedman Texas attorney Harriet Miers, withdrawing her name from consideration for the U.S. Supreme Court, in a letter to President George W. Bush: "I am concerned that the confirmation process presents a burden for the White House and our staff that is not in the best interests of the country." U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, talking about the federal investigation of the Valerie Plame leak, on Meet the Press: "I certainly hope that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn't indict on the crime and so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation was not a waste of time and taxpayer dollars." Hutchison in 1999, at a press conference on investigations of the Clinton Administration: "I very much worry that with the evidence that we have seen that grand juries across America are going to start asking questions about what is obstruction of justice, what is perjury. And I don't want there to be any lessening of the standard. Because our system of criminal justice depends on people telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That is the lynch pin of our criminal justice system and I don't want it to be faded in any way." Gov. Rick Perry, quoted by the Associated Press on recent campaign finance indictments: "I'm for Tom DeLay. I don't get confused about what's going on here. The fact of the matter is, I happen to think that this is an overzealous prosecutor who is working very hard to take a Texan off of the national stage who's been doing some great and good things for the state of Texas." House Speaker Tom Craddick, quoted in the Burleson-Crowley Connection on tort reform: "We're seeing fewer lawsuits, and the trial lawyers are on the run in this state, which I think is great." Gubernatorial candidate Chris Bell, in the McAllen Monitor on standardized tests in schools: "TAKS testing is corrupting the curriculum and leading to the highest dropout rate in the country. When's someone's told they'll be left back in 10th grade, there's a high probability they won't return." State district Judge Bob Perkins, quoted by the Associated Press about being assigned (for now) the Tom DeLay case: "Judges tend to be hesitant about taking real high publicity cases. It definitely complicates your life." Gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman, quoted in the San Antonio Express-News: "If I lose this race, I already know what I'm going to do. I'm going to retire in a petulant snit."