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U.S. SENATOR PATRICK
LEAHY
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CONTACT: Office of Senator
Leahy, 202-224-4242 |
VERMONT |
Reaction
Of Senator Patrick Leahy
To The President’s Saturday Radio Address
On The Nomination Of Miguel Estrada
To The D.C. Circuit Court Of Appeals
February 22, 2003
President Bush is asking for something no
president of either party should ask for. He is asking the Senate to vote
without having straightforward answers from a nominee for a lifetime
judgeship. Doing that would set a dangerous precedent that would lessen
the independence of the federal judiciary. When any nominee does not
answer basic questions, the Senate clearly has a constitutional
responsibility to ask for the answers.
Mr. Estrada will not answer basic questions
about his judicial philosophy, yet he is asking the Senate to confirm him
to a lifetime job on the second highest court in the land. This court
affects every single American in countless ways through its decisions on
everything from clean air and water, to the rights of working men and
women, to the voting and civil rights of all minorities.
Becoming a federal judge for a lifetime is a
privilege, not a right, and no nominee should be rewarded for stonewalling
the Senate and the American people. The Constitution directs senators to
use their judgment in voting on judicial nominees, not to rubber stamp
them.
The Democratic Senate confirmed a record 100
of President Bush’s judicial nominees, acting faster and more fairly than
Republicans did with President Clinton’s nominees. But
President Bush has also proposed several controversial nominees,
like Miguel Estrada, who divide the American people and the Senate.
The President can end this impasse, and I
hope he will act to give senators the answers they need to make informed
judgments about this nomination. The President can also help by choosing
mainstream judicial nominees who can unite instead of divide the American
people.
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