Senator Ron Wyden

Statement of U.S. Senator Ron Wyden
On Potential “Nuclear Option”

May 9, 2005

Mr. President, as the Senate resumes debating the nuclear option for resolving the debate about judges, I would like to ask that the Senate pursue a conventional option, the disappearing art of bipartisanship. Rather than calling for breaking out the nuclear weapons, I believe the Senate should call for breaking out some bipartisanship, and I want to give an example this afternoon of what the possibilities could be for real bipartisanship in this area of judicial nominations.

When President Clinton was elected, even though I was a Member of the House, I was the senior Democrat in my State. So I was faced with the challenge then as a Member of the other body of working with two Senators with close to 60 years of experience in the Senate--Mark Hatfield and Bob Packwood. Both of them were extremely gracious in their efforts to work with me.

I created a formal judicial selection committee. I gave Senators Hatfield and Packwood representation on that committee. We worked together in a bipartisan way and my first selection was confirmed without controversy.

I continued that bipartisan selection committee when I was elected to serve in the Senate. Three of my recommendations are now serving on the Federal bench thanks, in great measure, to the bipartisan cooperation of my friend and colleague Senator Gordon Smith.

After President Bush was elected in 2000, Senator Smith retained a similar bipartisan judicial selection process, and I was pleased to be able to assist him and the Bush administration in moving their nominee through the process.

Now our bipartisanship has been put to the test. In fact, twice, both with respect to myself and with respect to Senator Smith, we had nominees who proved to be controversial to some Senators. In each case, the Senator in the minority party upheld his commitments and shepherded these individuals through the Senate. Doing tough bipartisan work at the front end of the judicial selection process, neither Senator Smith nor I were pulled into a partisan squabble later on as the process went forward.

This is precisely the sort of bipartisan cooperation that is now missing between the White House and the Senate, and what is needed is more bipartisan conventional options for resolving this judicial debate and fewer nuclear threats.

It seems to me, going nuclear will change the Senate in a very dramatic way. I think it will make it harder, for example, to have breakthroughs in health care such as Senator Hatch helped me achieve when we passed the Health Care That Works for All Americans law. I think it is going to make it harder to have a bipartisan breakthrough to producing a new energy policy. If ever there was a red, white and blue issue for our country, it is getting a new bipartisan energy policy that would shake us free of our dependence on foreign oil.

As I held open community meetings last week at home in Pendleton, Irrigon, Monroe, Fossil, Tillamook, and throughout my home state, there were no rallies and citizens calling for the use of a nuclear option. There were an awful lot of people asking: What are you going to do about health care costs that are going through the stratosphere? And I talked to them about the efforts that I and Senator Hatch have put in place.

They wanted to know about what is going to be done to deal with crumbling roads. I see our friend from Oklahoma who would like to pull together a bipartisan bill to deal with our country's infrastructure.

So folks were talking about health care, creating jobs and a fresh energy policy. They know the only way the Senate is going to achieve any of that is through bipartisanship.

I also see the distinguished chairman of the Judiciary Committee, my friend Senator Specter. Today the Senate has a choice. Tomorrow or the next day there may not be a choice. I hope my colleagues will choose the conventional option we have been using in Oregon that Senator Hatfield and Senator Packwood assisted me with and that Senator Gordon Smith has assisted me with. I hope we will choose what I call the Oregon conventional option and seek a renewed bipartisan commitment to resolving this matter.

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