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Comments Of Judiciary Committee
Chairman Patrick Leahy
On The White House Proposal On Judicial Nominations
Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2002
“I regret that instead of accepting
our many previous invitations to work with the Senate and increase the
level of consultation and cooperation to help fill judicial vacancies,
the White House repeatedly has chosen to continue down its path of
trying to politicize the process. The timing and handling of this
unilateral White House proposal, a week before the elections, and
after ignoring all previous invitations to consult with the Senate,
cannot help but raise questions about its purpose.
“We have restored steadiness and
openness to the judicial confirmation process. The Democratic Senate
has moved far faster and with far more fairness than the previous
Republican Senate in filling judicial vacancies, even though many of
those vacancies were kept open through Republican stalling on so many
of President Clinton’s nominees. We have done more in 15 months than
our predecessors did in 30 months. In just 15 months, the Judiciary
Committee has voted on 100 nominees and approved 98 of them.
“Our list of firsts includes the first
nominee confirmed to the 6th Circuit in almost five years, even though
three of President Clinton’s nominees to that court never got hearings
and votes, and the first confirmation to the 5th Circuit in six
years. The President today was incorrect in suggesting that no 6th
Circuit nominee has been confirmed. The Senate on its own takes an
average of only 150 days from nomination to confirmation, even with
the time the White House has added to the Senate’s timetable for
peer-review vetting by the ABA.
“President Bush said he wanted to be a
uniter and not a divider, but he has nominated several appellate court
nominees who divide the American people and who divide the Senate, and
controversial nominations always take longer. The President can help
by choosing nominees not primarily for their ideology but for their
fairness. The Senate has clearly shown that consensus nominees are
acted on promptly.
“Cooperation from the White House
would allow us to make a good record even better. The Senate has
taken good-faith steps to speed the confirmation process. The White
House has not reciprocated. Ten months ago I invited the President to
work with the Senate and I renewed that invitation most recently on
Monday. I would be glad to begin those discussions about consultation
with the Senate and other steps to improve the process. But the
President should understand that the Senate does not need arbitrary
deadlines. What we need is cooperation from the White House in
choosing more noncontroversial nominees. Controversial nominations to
lifetime appointments, once confirmed, cannot be undone, and the
Senate’s consideration should not be needlessly rushed. Arbitrary
deadlines on the Senate would only serve to remove any pressure from
the White House in moderating the President’s choices.”
# # # # #
[Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)
today also released a letter sent Monday to President Bush, reporting
on the Senate’s work in acting on his judicial nominations and once
again inviting a constructive dialogue with the President on further
improvements in the process. The letter is pasted at the bottom of
this page.]
# # # # #
[Source: Senate Judiciary Committee:]
NOMINEES WHO THE PRESIDENT TOOK MORE
THAN 180 DAYS TO NOMINATE
Nominee
Court Days to Nomination
John R. Adams ND
Ohio 608
Thomas Ludington ED
Michigan 589
Robert G. Klausner CD
California 544
James Otero
CD California 544
Sandra Feurstein ED
New York 540
Richard Griffin 6th
Circuit 522
James Dever
North Carolina 467
Timothy J. Corrigan MD
Florida
467
Morrison England ED
California 425
Timothy Savage ED
Pennsylvania 405
David Cercone WD
Pennsylvania 405
Richard Dorr
WD Missouri 405
Henry Autrey
ED Missouri 405
Jeffrey White
ND California 391
William Smith
Rhode Island 384
Alia Ludlum
WD Texas 377
Legrome Davis ED
Pennsylvania 369
Cynthia Rufe
ED Pennsylvania 369
Arthur Schwab WD
Pennsylvania 369
Kenneth Marra SD
Florida 369
John Walter
CD California 368
William Griesbach ED
Wisconsin 368
Joy
Conti WD Pennsylvania 368
Percy Anderson CD
California 368
Jose Martinez
SD Florida 368
Frederick Rohlfing
Hawaii 368
Ronald Leighton WD
Washington 367
Henry Hudson ED
Virginia 367
Andrew Hanen SD
Texas 367
David Godbey ND
Texas 367
Cormac Carney CD
California 357
Leonard Davis
ED Texas 347
Samuel Mays WD
Tennessee 345
Ronald Clark
ED Texas 329
John E. Jones
MD Pennsylvania 328
Christopher Conner MD
Pennsylvania 316
Thomas Varlan ED
Tennessee 314
Jose Linares
New Jersey 304
Richard Holwell SD
New York 294
Susan Bieke Neilson 6th
Circuit 292
Judge D. Brooks Smith 3rd
Circuit 233
Henry Saad
6th Circuit 292
Maurice Hicks WD
Louisiana 286
Amy St. Eve
ND Illinois 273
Judge Julia Smith Gibbons 6th
Circuit 262
William H. Steele 11th
Circuit 262
Phillip Martinez WD
Texas 262
Timothy Stanceu
ITC 261
Ralph Erickson
North Dakota 255
Ashley Royal
MD Georgia 251
Stanley Chesler
New Jersey 236
Robert Blackburn
Colorado 233
David Bury
Arizona 233
Cindy Jorgenson
Arizona 233
Gregory Frost
SD Ohio 212
Clay
Land ND Georgia 212
Randy Crane
SD Texas 212
Freda Wolfson
New Jersey 209
William Martini New
Jersey 207
James Mahan
Nevada 201
Frederick Martone
Arizona 201
Julie Robinson
Kansas 201
Christina Armijo New
Mexico 194
Danny Reeves ED
Kentucky 194
Karon Bowdre ND
Alabama 194
Karen Caldwell ED
Kentucky 194
Clair
Egan ND Oklahoma 194
Kurt Englehardt ED
Louisiana 194
Stephen Friot
WD Oklahoma 194
Callie Granade
SD Alabama 194
Joe Heaton
WD Oklahoma 194
Larry Hicks
Nevada 194
William Johnson New
Mexico 194
Michael Baylson ED
Pennsylvania 190
Rosemary Collyer D.
DC 182
David Bunning ED
Kentucky 182
VACANCIES FOR WHICH THE PRESIDENT HAS
FAILED TO NOMINATE
(Vacancies More Than 180 Days Old)
Vacancy Created By
Court Days Vacant as of
October 30, 2002
Judge Charles Wiggins 9th
Circuit 2128 days
Judge Sam Ervin 4th
Circuit 1168 days
Judge Morton Greenberg 3rd
Circuit 853 days
Judge Patrick Duggan E.D.
Mich. 792 days
Judge Francis Murnaghan 4th
Circuit 790 days
Judge Laurence Silberman D.C.
Circuit 728 days
Judge Spencer Letts C.D.
Cal. 680 days
Judge Richard Vollmer S.D.
Ala.
668 days
Judge Robert Jones D.
Ore. 547 days
Judge Stephen Williams D.C.
Circuit 426 days
Judge James C. Fox E.D.
NC 272 days
Judge William Standish W.D.
Pa. 243 days
Judge Carol Los Mansmann 3rd
Circuit 235 day
Judge Shelby
Highsmith
S.D. Fla.
229 days
# # # # #
October 28, 2002
The Honorable
George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC
20500
Dear Mr.
President:
At times it has
seemed to me that you may not be aware of all of your judicial and
executive branch nominees on which the Democratic majority of the
Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate have deferred to you and
consented to the nomination. Accordingly, I list for you below the
nominees the Judiciary Committee has voted on since I became Chairman.
Judicial
Nominations Reported and Confirmed Between July 20, 2001 and October
2, 2002:
Judge Roger
Gregory, 4th Circuit
Judge Richard
Cebull, D. Montana
Judge Sam Haddon,
D. Montana
Judge William
Riley, 8th Circuit
Judge Sharon
Prost, Federal Circuit
Judge Reggie
Walton, D. District of Columbia
Judge Barrington
Parker, Jr., 2d Circuit
Judge Michael
Mills, N.D. Mississippi
Judge James Payne,
N.D./ E.D./ W.D. Oklahoma
Judge Karen
Caldwell, E.D. Kentucky
Judge Laurie Smith
Camp, D. Nebraska
Judge Claire
Eagan, N.D. Oklahoma
Judge Larry
Hicks, D. Nevada
Judge Christina
Armijo, D. New Mexico
Judge Karon Bowdre,
D. Alabama
Judge Stephen
Friot, W.D. Oklahoma
Judge Terry
Wooten, D. South Carolina
Judge Edith Brown
Clement, 5th Circuit
Judge Harris Hartz,
10th Circuit
Judge Joe Heaton,
D. Oklahoma
Judge Danny
Reeves, E.D. Kentucky
Judge John Bates,
D. District of Columbia
Judge Kurt
Engelhardt, E.D. Louisiana
Judge Julie
Robinson, D. Kansas
Judge William
Johnson, D. New Mexico
Judge Clay Land,
D. Georgia
Judge Frederick
Martone, D. Arizona
Judge C. Ashley
Royal, M.D. Georgia
Judge Marcia
Krieger, D. Colorado
Judge James Mahan,
D. Nevada
Judge Callie
Granade, S.D. Alabama
Judge Philip
Martinez, W.D. Texas
Judge Michael
Melloy, 8th Circuit
Judge Jay Zainey,
E.D. Louisiana
Judge David
Bunning, E.D. Kentucky
Judge James
Gritzner, S.D. Iowa
Judge Richard
Leon, D. District of Columbia
Judge Robert
Blackburn, D. Colorado
Judge Cindy
Jorgenson, D. Arizona
Judge Ralph
Beistline, D. Alaska
Judge David C.
Bury, D. Arizona
Judge Randy Crane,
S.D. Texas
Judge Terrence
O'Brien, 10th Circuit
Judge Lance M.
Africk, E.D. Louisiana
Judge Legrome
Davis, E.D. Pennsylvania
Judge Jeffrey
Howard, 1st Circuit
Judge Percy
Anderson, C.D. California
Judge William
Griesbach, E.D. Wisconsin
Judge Joan
Lancaster, D.C. Minnesota
Judge John Walter,
C.D. California
Judge Cynthia Rufe,
E.D. Pennsylvania
Judge Michael
Baylson, E.D. Pennsylvania
Judge Leonard
Davis, E.D. Texas
Judge Andrew Hanen,
S.D. Texas
Judge Samuel H.
Mays, W.D. Tennessee
Judge Thomas Rose,
S.D. Ohio
Judge Paul Cassell,
D. Utah
Judge Lavenski R.
Smith, 8th Circuit
Judge Richard R.
Clifton, 9th Circuit
Judge Christopher
C. Conner, M.D. Pennsylvania
Judge Julia Smith
Gibbons, 6th Circuit
Judge Joy Flowers
Conti, W.D. Pennsylvania
Judge John E.
Jones III, M.D. Pennsylvania
Judge D. Brooks
Smith, 3rd Circuit
Judge Henry Autrey,
E.D. Missouri
Judge Richard E.
Dorr, W.D. Missouri
Judge David Godbey,
N.D. Texas
Judge Henry
Hudson, E.D. Virginia
Judge Timothy
Savage, E.D. Pennsylvania
Judge Amy J. St.
Eve, N.D. Illinois
Judge David
Cercone, W.D. Pennsylvania
Judge Morrison
Cohen England, E.D. California
Judge Terrence
McVerry, W.D. Pennsylvania
Judge Kenneth
Marra, S.D. Florida
Judge Timothy
Corrigan, M.D. Florida
Judge Jose
Martinez, S.D. Florida
Judge Arthur
Schwab, W.D. Pennsylvania
Judge Reena Raggi,
2nd Circuit
Judge James
Gardner, E.D. Pennsylvania
Judge Ronald
Clark, E.D. Texas
Judicial
Nominations Reported Favorably by the Senate Judiciary Committee to
the Senate and on the Senate Executive Calendar Awaiting Final Action
by the Senate:
John M. Rogers to
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Judge Stanley R.
Chesler to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
Rosemary M.
Collyer to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Mark E. Fuller to
the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
Daniel L. Hovland
to the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota
Kent A. Jordan to
the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware
Judge James E.
Kinkeade to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
Judge Robert G.
Klausner to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of
California
Judge Robert B.
Kugler to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
Ronald B. Leighton
to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington
Judge Jose L.
Linares to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
Judge Alia M.
Ludlum to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas
William J. Martini
to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
Judge Thomas W.
Phillips to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of
Tennessee
Judge Linda R.
Reade to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa
William E. Smith
to the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island
Jeffrey White to
the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Judge Freda
Wolfson to the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
Executive
Branch Confirmations:
Department of
Justice and Other Agencies:
Ralph Boyd,
Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division
Eileen O'Connor,
Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division
James Ziglar,
Commissioner Immigration and Naturalization Service
Asa Hutchinson,
Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Sarah Hart,
Director, National Institute of Justice
Robert Mueller,
Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Robert McCallum,
Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division
John Gillis,
Director, Office of Victims of Crime
Richard Nedelkoff,
Director, Bureau of Justice Assistance
Deborah Daniels,
Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs
Jay Bybee,
Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel
Benigno Reyna,
Director, U.S. Marshals=
Service
Juan Carlos
Benitez, Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment
Practices
Sharee Freeman,
Director, Community Relations Service
Jay Stevens,
Associate Attorney General
James Rogan,
Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Thomas Sansonetti,
Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division
John Walters,
Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
Mauricio Tamargo,
Chair, Foreign Claims Settlement Commission
J. Robert Flores,
Administrator, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
Scott M. Burns,
Deputy Director for State and Local Affairs, ONDCP
John M. Brown,
III, Deputy Administrator, DEA
Barry D. Crane,
Deputy Director for Supply Reduction, ONDCP
Mary Ann Solberg,
Deputy Director, ONDCP
Lawrence
Greenfeld, Director, Bureau of Justice Statistics
United States
Attorneys:
Michael Heavican,
Nebraska
Paul McNulty, E.D.
New York
Colm Connolly,
Delaware
Roscoe Howard,
Jr., District of Columbia
Michael Sullivan,
Massachusetts
Joseph Van
Bokkelen, N.D. Indiana
Stephen Pence, W.D.
Kentucky
Gregory Van
Tatenhove, E.D. Kentucky
Thomas
Heffelfinger, Minnesota
Patrick Meehan,
E.D. Pennsylvania
Mary Beth
Buchanan, W.D. Pennsylvania
Peter Hall,
Vermont
John Brownlee, W.D.
Virginia
Tim Burgess,
Alaska
Harry Mattice, E.D.
Tennessee
Robert McCampbell,
W.D. Oklahoma
Matthew Mead,
Wyoming
Michael Mosman,
Oregon
John Suthers,
Colorado
Susan Brooks, S.D.
Indiana
Todd Graves, W.D.
Missouri
Terrell Harris,
W.D. Tennessee
David Iglesias,
New Mexico
Charles Larson,
Sr., N.D. Iowa
Steven Colloton,
S.D. Iowa
Gregory Lockhart,
S.D. Ohio
Anna Mills
Wagoner, M.D. North Carolina
Margaret Chiara,
W.D. Michigan
Robert Conrad, W.D.
North Carolina
Thomas Gean, W.D.
Arkansas
James Greenlee,
N.D. Mississippi
Raymond Gruender,
E.D. Missouri
Daniel Bogden,
Nevada
Thomas DiBiagio,
Maryland
Thomas Johnston,
N.D. West Virginia
Donald Washington,
W.D. Louisiana
Patrick
Fitzgerald, N.D. Illinois
John McKay, W.D.
Washington
Karl Warner, S.D.
West Virginia
Leura Canary, M.D.
Alabama
Paul Charlton,
Arizona
Jeffrey Collins,
E.D. Michigan
William Duffey,
Jr., N.D. Georgia
Dunn Lampton, S.D.
Mississippi
Alice
Howze Martin, N.D.
Alabama
William Mercer,
Montana
Thomas Moss, Idaho
Strom Thurmond,
Jr., South Carolina
Maxwell Wood, M.D.
Georgia
Drew Wrigley, North Dakota
David Dugas, M.D.
Louisiana
Edward Kubo,
Hawaii
James McDevitt,
E.D. Washington
David O'Meilia,
N.D. Oklahoma
Sheldon Sperling,
E.D. Oklahoma
Johnny Sutton, W.D.
Texas
Richard Thompson, S.D.
Georgia
Harry Cummins,
III, E.D. Arkansas
Christopher
Christie, New Jersey
David York, S.D.
Alabama
Michael Battle,
W.D. New York
Thomas Colantuono,
New Hampshire
James Vines, M.D.
Tennessee
Paul Perez, M.D.
Florida
Eric F. Melgren,
Kansas
Michael Shelby,
S.D. Texas
Jane Boyle, N.D.
Texas
Matthew Orwig, E.D.
Texas
James Comey, S.D.
New York
Thomas Marino,
M.D. Pennsylvania
Debra W. Yang,
C.D. California
Frank D. Whitney,
E.D. North Carolina
Steven M. Biskupic,
E.D. Wisconsin
Jan Paul Miller,
C.D. Illinois
James McMahon,
South Dakota
Roslynn R.
Mauskopf, E.D. New York
Gregory Robert
Miller, N.D. Florida
Kevin Vincent
Ryan, N.D. California
Marcos D. Jimenez, S.D.
Florida
Miriam F. Miquelon,
S.D. Illinois
J.B. Van Hollen,
W.D. Wisconsin
United States
Marshals:
Dwight MacKay,
Montana
James Dawson, S.D.
West Virginia
William Jenkins,
M.D. Louisiana
Ronald McCubbins,
Jr., W.D. Kentucky
David Murtaugh,
N.D. Indiana
Nehemiah Flowers,
S.D. Mississippi
Arthur Hedden, E.D.
Tennessee
David Jolley, W.D.
Tennessee
Michael Roach, W.D.
Oklahoma
Eric Robertson,
W.D. Washington
Brian Ennis,
Nebraska
Chester Keely,
N.D. Alabama
John Loyd, E.D.
Oklahoma
David Viles, Maine
Johnny Hughes,
Maryland
Randy Johnson,
Alaska
Larry Wagster,
N.D. Mississippi
William Smith
Taylor, S.D. Alabama
Dennis Cluff
Merrill, Oregon
John Schickel, E.D.
Kentucky
William
ARut@
Whittington, W.D. Louisiana
Stephen
Fitzgerald, W.D. Wisconsin
J.C. Raffety, N.D.
West Virginia
James Rose,
Wyoming
James Kennedy,
S.D. Indiana
Theophile
Duroncelet, E.D. Louisiana
James Plousis, New
Jersey
Charles Reavis,
E.D. North Carolina
Timothy Welch,
N.D. Oklahoma
Michael Regan,
M.D. Pennsylvania
Jesse Seroyer,
Jr., M.D. Alabama
Gregory Forest,
W.D. North Carolina
John Edwards,
Vermont
Kim Widup, N.D.
Illinois
Don Slazinik, S.D.
Illinois
Patrick McDonald,
Idaho
Warren Anderson,
South Dakota
James Parmley,
N.D. New York
John Quinn, N.D.
Iowa
David Gonzales,
Arizona
Edward Zahren,
Colorado
Charles M. Sheer,
W.D. Missouri
Gorden Eden, Jr.,
New Mexico
John Lee Moore,
E.D. Texas
Ronald Henderson,
E.D. Missouri
Randy Paul Ely,
N.D. Texas
Gary Shovlin, E.D.
Pennsylvania
Steven Monier, New
Hampshire
Walter Bradley,
Kansas
William P. Kruziki,
E.D. Wisconsin
Steven Deatherage,
C.D. Illinois
Thomas M.
Fitzgerald, W.D. Pennsylvania
Pike, G. Wayne,
W.D. Virginia
David W. Thomas,
Delaware
Randall D.
Anderson, Utah
Ray E. Carnahan,
E.D. Arkansas
David S.
Carpenter, North Dakota
Theresa A. Merrow,
M.D. Georgia
Ruben Monzon, S.D.
Texas
James M. Wahlrab,
S.D. Ohio
Anthony Dichio,
Massachusetts
James T. Roberts,
S.D. Georgia
James R. Dougan,
W.D. Michigan
Michael L. Kline,
E.D. Washington
George B. Walsh,
District of Columbia
Peter A. Lawrence,
W.D. New York
Charles E. Beach,
S.D. Iowa
Richard Vaughn
Mecum, N.D. Georgia
Burton
Stallwood, Rhode Island
Denny Wade King,
Tennessee
Antonio Candia
Amador, C.D. California
Executive
Branch Nominations Reported Favorably by the Senate Judiciary
Committee to the Senate and on the Senate Executive Calendar Awaiting
Final Action by the Senate:
Carol Chien-Hua
Lam to be U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California
Glenn Suddaby to
be U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York
Johnny Mack Brown
to be U.S. Marshal for the District of South Carolina
John Francis Clark
to be U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Virginia
Robert Maynard
Grubbs to be U.S. Marshal for the Eastern District of Michigan
Joseph Guccione to
be U.S. Marshal for the Southern District of New York
Judicial and
Executive Branch Nominations on which the Senate Judiciary Committee
Voted Not to Report:
Charles Pickering,
Sr. to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Priscilla Owen to
the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
As you can see,
the Senate Judiciary Committee has worked hard to consider your
judicial and executive branch nominations over the past 15 months
since the Committee was permitted to reorganize following the change
in majority. During that time, the Senate Judiciary Committee held 26
hearings for more than 100 of your nominees for lifetime appointment
to the federal bench as well as 16 hearings for 21 executive branch
nominees.
It was unfortunate
to see the Senate=s
historic record of bipartisan cooperation on confirmations distorted
in the weeks leading up to November elections. It was disturbing to
see the White House, Senate Republicans and Republican candidates
distorting the record and ignoring the Senate Judiciary Committee=s
achievements and those of the Senate.
The Judiciary
Committee held hearings on 103 judicial nominations in 15 months. We
held votes on 100 judicial nominations in 15 months and favorably
reported 98 of your judicial nominees. The Committee voted not to
report only two judicial nominees.
We held hearings
on every federal trial court nominee who had a completed file by
October 2. Unfortunately several, 16, of your judicial nominees do
not have the support of home-state Senators. Had the White House
worked more closely with those Senators of both parties, those
situations may well have been avoided. In addition, because of the
White House=s decision to change the procedures that had been used since President
Eisenhower by Republican and Democratic Presidents alike to obtain
peer reviews through the ABA, a number of your more recent nominees,
10, do not have ABA peer reviews. Had we received the
ABA peer reviews earlier in the course
of the last 16 months, the Committee could have held hearings and
voted on another 12 to 15 judges.
The Senate
proceeded to confirm 80 judges in the 15 months since the change in
majority, including 14 judges to the circuit courts. That is more
judges than the Republican majority had confirmed in its final 30
months of Senate control from 1999 through the summer of 2001, more
than the Republican majority had confirmed in its first two full years
of Senate control in 1995 and 1996 combined, and more than were
confirmed in the first two years of your father=s
term in 1989 and 1990 combined.
At our Committee
meeting on October 8, the Committee favorably reported 17 judicial
nominations to the Senate. At that one meeting, we equaled the output
of the Republican Senate majority for the entire 1996 session when
only 17 District Court judges were confirmed all year. No judges were
confirmed to the circuit courts during the entire 1996 session of
Congress when the Republican majority was in control.
In the 15 months
in which I have chaired the Judiciary Committee, we held hearings on
20 circuit court nominees, held Committee votes on 17 and favorably
reported 15 circuit court nominees. In the six and one-half years
that the Republican majority controlled the pace of President Clinton=s
nominees, only 46 circuit court nominees were confirmed. In the first
15 months of Democratic control, by contrast, 14 circuit court
nominees were confirmed.
To compare how
your nominees are being treated in contrast to how the Republican
Senate majority treated President Clinton=s
nominees, let me note the following. Senator Hatch is fond of saying
that he presided over six years of President Clinton's terms in office
and that President Clinton appointed 377 federal judges (although 127
were confirmed under the chairmanship of Senator Biden). Had the
Republicans acted as quickly on as many of President Clinton's
nominees as the Judiciary Committee has over the last 15 months on
your nominees, President Clinton would have been able to appoint 597
federal judges. During the time in which the Republican majority
controlled the pace of confirmations in the Senate, had they
maintained the pace that Democrats have maintained in reporting your
judicial nominations to the Senate over the last 15 months, President
Clinton=s judicial appointments during the period of Republican control would
have been 89 percent higher.
Rather than
acknowledge the better pace that your nominees have been considered
than those of the last President, you and members of your staff have
chosen to treat this as a partisan political matter. You have refused
to acknowledge what we have been able to achieve and, instead, focused
only on your most controversial and divisive nominations.
In attempting to
address responsibly the large number of vacancies created by
Republican obstruction when they controlled the Senate, the Committee
has endeavored to move as quickly as possible on the less
controversial of the nominees, in order to provide much needed relief
to the federal courts. The Committee=s
reporting 98 judicial nominations and the Senate=s
confirmation of 80 in 15 months demonstrates our willingness to act
fairly, expeditiously and in a bipartisan way.
I inherited 110
vacancies when I became Chairman. Since then an additional 47
vacancies have arisen. The judiciary does not suffer from those 150
plus vacancies, which it would had we done nothing. With 80
confirmations so far in just 15 months, we have significantly reduced
the vacancies in the 862-member federal judiciary to 77.
Unfortunately,
despite the current number of judicial vacancies, you have not made
nominations to 26 of the open seats on the federal courts (26 of 77).
While we are moving at a fast pace to consider your judicial nominees,
we obviously cannot confirm those who have not yet been nominated.
Morever, a number of your more recent nominees, including all eight
received in September and October, do not have ABA peer reviews and
will not be eligible to be considered at all this year.
We wish you had
chosen to work with us more closely on the important work of filling
our federal courts with judicial nominees who will follow precedent,
be fair and impartial to all people, and protect the rights of all
Americans. If you would work with us and nominate less divisive, less
controversial nominees, that would contribute greatly to the process
and our mutual success. Unfortunately, you have chosen to politicize
these appointments and to seek to create a partisan campaign issue.
Your unwillingness
to work with the Majority Leader in selection nominees for bipartisan
boards and commissions has greatly complicated the confirmation
process, as well. Likewise, Republican Senators’ unwillingness to
proceed on your nominees has been a great difficulty and threatens
progress on the judicial nominees reported by the Judiciary Committee
and on the Senate Executive Calendar.
At the beginning
of my term as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee I reached out
to try to work with your Administration. I renewed my efforts in
January and the early parts of this year. I am doing so, again.
Meaningful consultation, ideological balance and a depoliticizing of
the judicial nomination process are all matters I remain willing to
discuss. We have accomplished a good deal already. We could
accomplish much more working more closely together.
Sincerely,
_____________________
PATRICK LEAHY
Chairman |
