Judicial Nominations

May 22, 1998

Yesterday, Xavier Becerra, Jose E. Serrano and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus called upon the Republican leadership to vote upon the Latino nominees to judgeships who have languished in the Senate far too long. I welcome the views of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to the debate and I ask that a copy of their letter be included in the Record at the conclusion of my remarks.

I have spoken often, too often, about the crisis in the Second Circuit and our need for the Senate to move forward to confirm the nominees pending on the Senate calendar to that important court.

Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a qualified nominee who was confirmed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in 1992 after being nominated by President Bush. She attended Princeton University and Yale Law School. She worked for over four years in the New York District Attorney’s Office as an Assistant District Attorney and was in private practice with Pavia & Harcourt in New York. She is strongly support by Senator Moynihan and Senator D’Amato. She is a source of pride to Puerto Rican and other Hispanic supporters and to women. When confirmed she will be only the second woman and second judge of Puerto Rican descent to serve on the Second Circuit.

By a vote of 16 to 2, the Judiciary Committee reported the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Senate. That was on March 5, 1998, over two months ago. No action has been taken or scheduled on that nomination and no explanation for the delay has been forthcoming. This is the oldest judicial nomination pending on the Senate Executive Calendar. In spite of an April 8 letter to the Senate Republican Leader signed by all six Senators from the three States forming the Second Circuit urging prompt action, this nomination continues to be stalled by anonymous objections. Our bipartisan letter to the Majority Leader asked that he call up for prompt consideration by the Senate the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. That was over one month ago. I request unanimous consent that a copy of that letter be included in the record at the conclusion of my remarks.

Nor is Judge Sotomayor the only woman or minority judicial nominee who has been needlessly delayed. Indeed, if one considers those nominees who have taken the longest to confirm this year, we find a disturbing pattern.

Hilda Tagle, the only Hispanic woman the Senate has confirmed this year, took 32 months to be confirmed as a District Court Judge for the Southern District of Texas-- that was over two and one-half years. As I have noted, Judge Sotomayor’s nomination to the Second Circuit is the longest pending on the Senate calendar, another qualified Hispanic woman nominee. Judge Richard Paez, currently a District Court Judge and a nominee to the Ninth Circuit, was first nominated in January 1996. Twenty-eight months latter, Judge Paez’s nomination remains pending on the Senate calendar. Nor have we seen any progress with respect to the nomination of Jorge Rangel to the Fifth Circuit or Anabelle Rodriguez to the District Court for Puerto Rico, although her nomination was received in January 1996 almost 28 months ago.

For that matter, we have seen the President’s nomination of the Judge James A. Beaty, Jr., the first African-American to the Fourth Circuit stalled for 29 months, since December 1995.

We have seen the attack on Judge Frederica Massiah-Jackson, who would have been the first African-American woman to serve on the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, but who was forced to withdraw. We have seen the nomination of Clarence Sundram held up since September 1995, almost 32 months.

With the delays in the Senate consideration of Margaret Morrow and Margaret McKeown earlier this year, we had the opportunity to consider why it is that the Senate takes so much longer to consider and confirm so many woman nominees. That question has yet to be answered adequately.

Margaret Morrow was targeted by some and debate on her nomination was delayed for more than a year. She was first nominated in May 1996 and was not voted on for 21 months. When we finally got a vote, she was confirmed by a vote of more than two to one. Margaret Morrow was the first and only woman to serve as the President of the California State Bar. The ABA gave her its highest rating. She had strong bipartisan support. She was held up for a judicial emergency vacancy for many months without cause of justification.

Nor was Margaret Morrow an isolated case. Consider the nomination of Judge Ann Aiken to the District Court in Oregon. That nomination was received in November 1995 but not considered by the Senate until January 1998, 26 months later. She, too, was confirmed by a vote of more than two to one.

Then we had the case of Margaret McKeown who was nominated to a vacancy on the Ninth Circuit in March 1996 but not considered until two years later in March 1998. When she received a Senate vote, she was confirmed by a vote of 80 to 11.

We still have Susan Oki Mollway pending before the Senate without a vote although she was first nominated back in December 1995 for the vacancy on the District Court in Hawaii

-- that was more than 29 months ago and still she is without a vote.

In his annual report on the judiciary last year, the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court observed: "Some current nominees have been waiting a considerable time for a Senate Judiciary Committee vote or a final floor vote. The Senate confirmed only 17 judges in 1996 and 36 in 1997, well under the 101 judges it confirmed in 1994." He went on to note: "The Senate is surely under no obligation to confirm any particular nominee, but after the necessary time for inquiry it should vote him up or vote him down."

For some unexplained reason, judicial nominees who are women or racial or ethnic minorities seem to take the longest.

Of the 10 judicial nominees whose nominations have been pending the longest before the Senate, eight are women and racial or ethnic minority candidates. A ninth has been delayed in large measure because of opposition to his mother, who already serves as a judge. The tenth is one who blew the lid off the $1.4 milllion right-wing campaign to "kill" Clinton judicial nominees.

Pending on the Senate calendar, having been passed over again and again, are Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Judge Richard Paez and Susan Oki Mollway. Ronnie White has now finally been reported, as well. Held up in Committee after two hearings is Clarence Sundram. Still without a hearing are Anabelle Rodriquez, Judge James A. Beaty, Jr., and Jorge C. Rangel. What all these nominees have in common is that they are either women or members of racial or ethnic minorities. That is a shame.