Senate To Vote On Three Judicial Nominations Tonight

 

WASHINGTON (Tuesday, June 24, 2008) – The Senate tonight will vote on three pending judicial nominations, including two circuit court nominations to fill the final vacancies on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.  The three nominees from Michigan, Judge Helene White and Raymond Kethledge for the Court of Appeals, and Steven Murphy for the Eastern District of Michigan, provided testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee at a May 7 hearing, and were reported by the Committee on June 12.   Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) delivered opening remarks on the Senate’s debate on the nominations.  His prepared remarks follow: 

 

Opening Statement Of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.),

Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee,

On Floor Consideration Of Judicial Nominations

June 24, 2008

 

Today, the Senate turns to a package of three nominations for lifetime appointments to the Federal bench in Michigan, including President Bush’s nominations of Judge Helene White and Raymond Kethledge to fill the final two vacancies on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.  These nominations are the result of the hard work of Senators Levin and Stabenow, who consulted with President Bush to end a decade-long impasse in filling vacancies on the Sixth Circuit during which Senate Republicans blocked President Clinton’s nominees to that circuit, leaving open four vacancies. 

 

Yet, Republicans seem intent on preventing us from making this progress.  Judge White’s nomination should be a consensus nomination.  She has been nominated by a Democratic President and by a Republican President.  When the most partisan President in modern history, one responsible for sending us so many divisive judicial nominations, renominates a Clinton judicial nominee, it should send a signal. 

 

Nevertheless, her nomination drew criticism from the Republican leader and opposition from Republicans on Committee.  After I expedited a hearing on the Michigan nominations, Republicans objected that we were moving too fast.  They peppered her with more questions than any Bush nominee I can remember.  At our Committee markup Republicans made the wildly dumbfounding claims that she is “not experienced.”  After more than 25 years as a Michigan state court judge, including 15 as a state appellate court judge, she is a more experienced judicial nominee than many of those they previously supported.  It is interesting that Republicans did not raise this concern when they supporting far less experienced nominees, like Jennifer Elrod and Catharina Haynes of Texas, to fill circuit court vacancies.  In fact, Judge White has been on the appellate bench for longer than Ray Kethledge, the other Michigan Sixth Circuit nominee, has been out of law school.

 

It is ironic that last week, several Republican Senators held a press conference with representatives from right wing groups, and organized by a group calling itself Concerned Women for America.  It is Republican opposition to a woman nominee that has been holding up further progress in filling judicial vacancies.  This is a woman nominee described on the Bush White House website as “an experienced and highly qualified judge, who is known for her intellect, work ethic, and demeanor.”  She has been rated “well qualified” for the position by the ABA.  Yet her extensive experience does not seem to meet the standards set by Republican members of the Committee. 

 

As a State judge, she has not been called upon to consider and apply certain Federal statutes. That is understandable.  But to characterize her as unqualified on that ground would be to turn the clock back to before the confirmation of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, who herself had been a state legislator and state judge.  Justice O’Connor was not experienced in deciding Federal law issues before her confirmation as the first female justice of the United States Supreme Court.  I think we can agree that she nonetheless served the Nation well in that capacity.

 

It is also ironic that week after week, as the Senate continues to make progress on filling judicial vacancies, we hear a steady stream of grumbling from Republicans whose main priority now seems to be to prevent the Senate and the Judiciary Committee from addressing the priorities of ordinary Americans.  Republicans are now regularly objecting to hearings before the Judiciary Committee. 

 

They seem disappointed when we conclude hearings within the first two hours of the Senate’s day and they cannot disrupt them.  They objected to Senator Feinstein completing an important hearing on interrogation techniques used against detainees.  They objected to a hearing highlighting the impact of Supreme Court decisions on the daily lives of all Americans, even though that meant cutting short the testimony of two women victimized by such decisions.  And a few days ago, the Republican minority objected to a hearing that had been requested by Judiciary Committee Republicans to examine the need for additional Federal judgeships throughout the country.  This now all too familiar pattern is childish and serves no good purpose. 

 

We will see later this week whether they will allow Senator Biden to proceed to chair a hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs concerning fugitives from justice.

Regrettably, these obstructionist tactics from the other side of the aisle are likely to continue without regard to the real priorities of struggling Americans – the voters who have elected every Senator to serve – which are being pushed aside. 

 

We read just last week another story about the dissatisfaction of right wing activists and their pressuring of the Republican leadership in the Senate.  We witnessed their response this month as they forced the reading of a substitute amendment to critical climate change legislation for hours and hours, thereby shutting down the work of the Senate.

 

Two weeks ago we saw a story in Roll Call that included the headline “Divided GOP Settles on a Fight over Judges.”  That headline reminded me of the famous Wolfowitz quote about why the Bush administration settled on supposed weapons of mass destruction as the justification for attacking Iraq – it was the rationale they could agree on.

 

The report in Roll Call included discussion by Republican Senators of the politics that fuels their efforts to appeal to “conservative activists” and “ignite base voters” and find an issue that “serves as a rare unifier for Senate Republicans” and their presidential nominee. That piece mirrored an earlier article in The Washington Times reporting how this is all part of an effort to bolster Senator McCain’s standing among conservatives.  I had suspected that much of this complaining was because Republican partisans are looking for an issue designed to energize their political base during an election year.  Reports from conservative media outlets have confirmed my suspicions.

 

On this date in the 1996 session, another presidential election year but one in which a Republican Senate majority was considering the judicial nominees of a Democratic President, do you know how many judicial nominations had been confirmed by the Senate?  That answer is none, not one.  That was a session that ended without a single circuit court being confirmed.  By contrast, if Republicans will allow the confirmation of Judge White to the Sixth Circuit, we can today complete confirmations for 12 judges – including four circuit court judges – so far this presidential election year.  In addition to today’s three nominees, two more judicial nominees already reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee are pending on the Senate’s Executive Calendar, and I have placed four more on the Judiciary Committee business agenda for later this week.    

 

It is perhaps the ultimate irony that here, as the Democratic leadership of the Senate takes the extraordinary step of proceeding to two more of President Bush’s circuit court nominees in June of a presidential election year, I am being criticized by Republicans for, of all things, moving too quickly. 

 

I had hoped in light of the discussion between the Majority leader and the Republican leader earlier this spring to have concluded Senate action on this package of Michigan nominees more quickly.  I had tried to have these votes in May, before the Memorial Day recess, but we were thwarted in that effort by Republican concerns about expediting consideration of these Bush nominees.  So what we might have done in May, we are now having to do in June.  It reminds me a bit of the Republican antics earlier in the year that cost us progress in February.  Rather than making progress, Republicans refused to make a quorum at the Judiciary Committee that entire month and delayed our reporting of judicial nominees and other matters until March. 

 

Let there be no mistake.  If Judge White is confirmed we will have broken a decade-long impasse at the Sixth Circuit.  By contrast, the Republican Senate majority during the Clinton years refused to consider President Clinton’s Sixth Circuit nominees for three years and left four vacancies on that court.  When, as chairman, I scheduled a hearing and vote for Judge Julia Smith Gibbons of Tennessee, and then for Judge John Marshall Rogers of Kentucky, we were able to confirm the first new judges to the Sixth Circuit in five years.  Confirmation of Judge White and Mr. Kethledge of Michigan would complete the process by filling the two remaining vacancies on the Sixth Circuit.

Judge White was first nominated by President Clinton to a vacancy on the Sixth Circuit more than 11 years ago, but the Republican-led Senate refused to act on her nomination.  She waited in vain for 1,454 days for a hearing, before President Bush withdrew her nomination in March 2001.  Hers was one of the more than 60 qualified judicial nominees pocket filibustered by Republicans.  This year, President Bush reconsidered, and renominated her.  I hope the Senate will follow his example and confirm Judge White to one of the last two vacancies on the Sixth Circuit.

 

The Michigan vacancies on the Sixth Circuit have proven a great challenge.  I want to commend Senator Levin and Senator Stabenow for working to end years of impasse.  I have urged the President to work with the Michigan Senators and, after seven years, he finally has.  We have come a long way since I became Chairman in 2001 when the Sixth Circuit was in turmoil and nominations had been road blocked for years, and I hope the Senate will today complete that progress by confirming Judge White and Raymond Kethledge. 

# # # # #