U.S. SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY

[WASHINGTON (Tuesday, Sept. 7) -- The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly confirmed two more district court nominees Tuesday evening, bringing the total number of President Bush’s nominees confirmed since he took office to 200, said Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  At 200 judicial appointments, Bush has appointed more judges than former President Ronald Reagan appointed in his first term (164), more than the former President George H.W. Bush appointed in his tenure (192) and more than former President Clinton appointed in his last term in office (175).  Vacancies in the federal judiciary today stand at their lowest rate since the presidency of Ronald Reagan.  Senator Leahy’s statements on the nominations are below.] 

Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy
On the Confirmation of Virginia Hernandez Covington
To the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida
September 7, 2004
 

Today Democrats and Republicans join together in considering the nomination of Virginia Maria Hernandez Covington to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.  The Florida Senators support the nomination of Judge Covington and all Democratic Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted in favor of her nomination. 

 The selection of Judge Covington to be the nominee for the Southern District of Florida serves as an example of how the judicial nominations process should work.  She was interviewed and recommended by Florida’s bipartisan judicial selection commission.   This selection commission was created by Senators Graham and Nelson in a negotiated agreement with the White House and it has produced talented and well-respected attorneys for the lifetime appointments on the district courts in Florida.  I congratulate the Senators from Florida for their efforts to maintain this important mechanism for          promoting experienced and consensus candidates for the federal bench, despite the resistance of the White House to this time-tested procedure for finding qualified and consensus nominees.

 Judge Covington currently serves as Judge for the Second District Court of Appeals in Florida, one of five appellate districts in Florida.  She has served as an appellate judge since her appointment by Governor Bush in September 2001.  She previously worked as a federal prosecutor and spent nearly 20 years with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida. 

With today’s unanimous consent agreement for votes on Judge Covington and another judicial nominee from Texas, the Senate will have confirmed 200 judicial nominees of President Bush.  In 17 months of a Democratic majority in the Senate, we confirmed 100 of his judicial nominees, and now with a total of 26 months of Republican control of the Senate, another 100 of Bush’s judicial nominees have been confirmed.   

The Senate has withheld its consent from some of this President’s most extreme and unfair nominations but nowhere near the number of moderate Clinton nominees that Republicans stalled in recent years.   

Less than 10 percent of President Bush’s judicial nominees are Latino, even though this is a diverse ethnic group which constitutes a larger and growing percentage of the U.S. population.  In fact, President Bush has nominated more people who have been involved with the Federalist Society than Latinos, African Americans, and Asian Americans combined.  This disparity demonstrates that this President is less concerned about creating a federal judiciary of excellent, fair judges who reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of our people and more concerned about ideological purity and finding nominees who are likely to side with the President on his political agenda.  It is notable that over the last year this President has failed to nominate a single Hispanic to the circuit court positions he prizes.  By contrast at least six of the nine circuit court nominations this President has made during the last year are affiliated with the Federalist Society.  This Administration has shown that it is committed to packing the courts with individuals who will shape the bench according to narrow ideological goals.  Democrats have resisted this President’s most extreme nominees to preserve federal courts that are fair, balanced and independent.

Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy
Michael Schneider to the U.S. District Court
Ranking Member, Senate Judiciary Committee
September 7, 2004

Today, September 7, the Senate considers the nomination of Michael Schneider to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.  Justice Schneider has served on the Supreme Court of Texas for two years.  Including his 12 years of service as a trial and appellate judge and his part-time position at a municipal court, Justice Schneider has served as a judge in one capacity or another for 25 years. 

Justice Schneider served as Assistant District Attorney for Harris County, from 1971 to 1975.  I also remember first meeting this nominee when I was serving as State’s Attorney for Chittenden County and Mr. Schneider was a defense attorney working on cases involving fraud, organized crime and other white collar crimes.  Throughout his career, Justice Schneider has demonstrated a commitment to serving those less fortunate, by developing a mock trial program at a school in an impoverished neighborhood, participating in Habitat for Humanity projects, establishing alternative dispute resolution programs, and working with the State Bar of Texas to increase access to justice.   

Justice Schneider has a reputation as a conservative, but fair-minded judge. In general his opinions have focused on statutory interpretation, proper trial procedures, and the rule of law.   Justice Schneider’s confirmation will mark the 16th district court nominee of President Bush’s from the State of Texas who has received a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee and has been confirmed.  This nomination will fill the last remaining vacancy on the Texas federal district courts.  Of course, we have not heard and likely will not hear a single word of appreciation from the White House that all 16 men and women the President has nominated to the federal trial courts in Texas have been confirmed by the Senate.   

Our bipartisanship toward his nominees stands in marked contrast to the fate of many of President Clinton’s nominees from Texas, who were blocked and delayed by the Republican majority, including Enrique Moreno and Judge Jorge Rangel, Ricardo Morado; and Judge Michael Schattman.  While Republicans blocked these Texas nominees along with more than 60 other Clinton judicial nominees, Senate Democrats have by contrast acted fairly and expeditiously toward President Bush’s judicial nominees.  The treatment of Judge Schneider’s nomination stands in stark contrast to how Texans nominated by President Clinton were treated. 

After Judge Jorge Rangel, disappointed with his treatment at the hands of the Republican majority, asked President Clinton not to resubmit his nomination for endless delay, President Clinton nominated Enrique Moreno, a distinguished attorney in private practice in El Paso, Texas and a native of Mexico.  Mr. Moreno is a graduate of Harvard University and the Harvard Law School.  He was given the highest rating of unanimous "Well Qualified" by the ABA.  Mr. Moreno’s nomination languished for 15 months, with President Clinton renominating him at the beginning of 2001.  President Bush missed one of many opportunities for bipartisanship when he withdrew that nomination and, instead, sent the Senate the divisive nomination of Priscilla Owen.     

In addition to defeating the district court nomination of Judge Michael Schattman by inaction, Republicans delayed confirmation of Judge Hilda Tagle for more than two a half years with no explanation for their actions.  When Ricardo Morado was nominated to the district court by President Clinton on May 11, 2000, Republican Senators indicated that this was just too late in an election year for him to be confirmed.  In contrast, Justice Schneider was nominated later in the year than Richard Morado, on May 17, 2004.  Senate Democrats are, again, demonstrating their extraordinary good faith with respect to this nomination in light of recent Republican excesses.     

This confirmation is taking place in September of a presidential election year, which is long past the deadline for action under the “Thurmond Rule.”  In July 1980, Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan asked Senate Republicans, then in the minority, to stop confirming the judicial nominees of President Carter.  Senator Strom Thurmond, who was then the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee, was happy to oblige.  Republicans were able to accomplish this blockade with only a few exceptions that required Republican consent.  Senate Republicans have adhered to this rule with a Democratic President, whether they were in the minority, as in 1980, or the majority, as in 1996 and 2000.  Although vacancies were much higher in those years than today, Republicans insisted on maintaining judicial vacancies to be filled by the President elected in the coming fall election.   

With today’s unanimous consent agreement for votes on two district court nominees including Judge Schneider, the Senate will have confirmed 200 judicial nominees of President Bush.  In 17 months of a Democratic majority in the Senate, we confirmed 100 of his judicial nominees, and now with a total of 26 months of Republican control of the Senate another 100 judicial nominees have been confirmed.   

Despite all of the complaining by the President and his partisans, the fact of the matter is that with today’s votes the Senate will have approved 200 of his judicial nominees.  He has appointed more judges in his first term than President Ronal Reagan did in his first term, more than his father did in his presidency and more than President Clinton did in his most recent term in office.  Thanks to the bipartisanship demonstrated by Senate Democrats, we have reached the lowest number of vacancies in the federal courts since the Reagan era.  With today’s confirmation votes there will be only 26 open seats in the entire federal bench, and there are more federal judges serving today than at any time in our history.   

The Senate has withheld its consent from some of this President’s most extreme and unfair nominations but no where near the number of moderate Clinton nominees that Republicans stalled in recent years.   

I congratulate Justice Schneider and his family on his confirmation.

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