[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 33 (Wednesday, February 22, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2953-S2954]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


       THE QUALIFICATIONS OF PETER EDELMAN TO BE A FEDERAL JUDGE

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, an unfair, unfortunate, and negative 
campaign of distortions and preposterous character attacks has been 
under way for some time by partisans on the extreme right to prevent 
the nomination of an excellent lawyer, Peter Edelman, to the U.S. Court 
of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
  I have known Peter Edelman well for more than three decades, ever 
since his years as an outstanding Senate staff member for my brother, 
Senator Robert Kennedy. A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law 
School, Peter served as a law clerk for Judge Henry Friendly on the 
Second Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Arthur Goldberg on the 
Supreme Court.
  In his subsequent career, he has consistently earned great 
distinction and respect for his service--in the Civil Division at the 
Department of Justice, as a vice president of the University of 
Massachusetts, as director of the New York State Division for Youth 
under Gov. Hugh Carey, as a partner in the Washington, DC, law firm of 
Foley & Lardner, as professor and associate dean at Georgetown 
University Law Center, and currently as counselor in the U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services.
  By virtue of his outstanding ability, background, experience, 
judgment, and temperament, Peter Edelman is clearly and well-qualified 
to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals. As much as anyone I know, Peter 
Edelman understands that our laws are the wise restraints that make us 
free. He also very clearly understands the proper constitutional role 
of Federal judges in our Federal system.
  I am confident that he would be an excellent Federal judge. I hope 
that President Clinton nominates him, and I believe he will be 
confirmed by the Senate. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to keep an 
open mind about this distinguished lawyer.
  Last week, many of us received a letter in strong support of Peter 
Edelman, signed by 71 distinguished law professors, including 19 law 
school deans and 8 former law school deans. Because an editorial in the 
Washington Times earlier last week grossly distorted the letter, I ask 
unanimous consent that the letter may be printed in the Record.
  [[Page S2954]] There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:
                             Georgetown University Law Center,

                                                 February 9, 1995.
     Senator Edward Kennedy,
     Russell Senate Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Kennedy: Enclosed please find a letter that we 
     have sent to Senator Hatch. As you will see, it is a letter 
     from more than seventy law professors and deans who are upset 
     about the tactics being used by some who are attempting to 
     stop the nomination of Peter Edelman to the United States 
     Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. We are 
     concerned that the current specter of distorted prenomination 
     sniping is undermining the integrity of the constitutionally 
     prescribed appointment process and we cannot stand by 
     silently while this is occurring.
       We appreciate your consideration.
           Sincerely yours,
     Susan Bloch,
                                 Georgetown University Law Center.
     Barbara Babcock,
                                              Stanford Law School.

                             Georgetown University Law Center,

                                                 February 9, 1995.
     Senator Orrin G. Hatch,
     U.S. Senate,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Senator Hatch: As law professors concerned with 
     protecting the Constitution and the judiciary, we are 
     troubled to see orchestrated attempts to distort the record 
     of potential nominees even before they have been nominated. 
     In particular, we are very troubled by the attacks on Peter 
     Edelman, a respected scholar with an extensive record of 
     public service who has exactly the kind of qualifications the 
     nation should look for in nominees for the Courts of Appeals. 
     We urge you to remain open-minded so as not to encourage 
     those seeking to derail the appointment process.
       As you know, before joining the Administration, Peter 
     Edelman was Associate Dean at the Georgetown University Law 
     Center. In his outstanding career, Professor Edelman has been 
     a clerk to Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, a key aide 
     to Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Director of the New York 
     State Division for Youth. As respected within academia as in 
     public service, Professor Edelman has shown himself to be a 
     sensitive, thoughtful, and responsible counselor, 
     policymaker, and scholar. The judiciary and the nation would 
     be well served by his presence on the Court of Appeals for 
     the District of Columbia Circuit.
       To single out for attack, as his critics have, one article 
     that Professor Edelman wrote in 1987 in an effort to provoke 
     thought about the growing inequities in income distribution 
     in this country is grossly distorting in at least two ways. 
     First, it overlooks the fact that Professor Edelman has 
     produced a body of work on poverty issues that sets out his 
     framework for understanding the 1987 article. Second, the 
     attack ignores the rest of his record of excellent service in 
     all three branches of government.
       Our constitutional system will be severely damaged if an 
     organized campaign of misrepresentation can block the 
     nomination of someone so clearly qualified. The President 
     should nominate Professor Edelman and let the Senators decide 
     whether or not to confirm. Peter Edelman should have the 
     chance to explain his views and set forth his entire record 
     in the
      framework of a confirmation hearing. We are confident that 
     if you will receive his nomination with an open mind, you 
     will find that he is one of the most well qualified 
     nominees you have seen in your tenure on the Judiciary 
     Committee.
       Professor Lee Albert, State University of New York at 
     Buffalo, School of Law; Dean Barbara Bader Aldave, St. Mary's 
     University of San Antonio, School of Law; Professor Ellen P. 
     Aprill, Loyola Law School; Dean Judith C. Areen, Georgetown 
     University Law Center; Professor Charles E. Ares, University 
     of Arizona, College of Law; Professor Barbara Allen Babcock, 
     The Ernest W. McFarland Professor of Law; Sanford Law School.
       Professor Steven R. Barnett, University of California at 
     Berkley; Dean Daniel O. Bernstine, University of Wisconsin 
     Law School; Professor Vincent A. Blasi, Columbia University 
     School of Law; Professor Susan Low Bloch, Georgetown 
     University Law Center; Provost Lee Bollinger, Dartmouth 
     College; Dean Barry B. Boyer, State University of New York at 
     Buffalo, School of Law.
       Dean Paul Brest, Stanford Law School; Professor Robert A. 
     Burt, Alexander M. Bickel Professor of Public Law, Yale Law 
     School; Professor Alexander Morgan Capron, University 
     Professor of Law and Medicine, University of Southern 
     California; Associate Dean Catherine L. Carpenter, 
     Southwestern University School of Law; Professor Stephen 
     Lisle Carter, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Yale 
     Law School; Professor David P. Currie, University of Chicago 
     Law School.
       Dean Colin S. Diver, University of Pennsylvania Law School; 
     Professor David Feller, University of California at Berkeley; 
     Professor Mary Louise fellows, University of Minnesota Law 
     School; Professor David B. Filvaroff, State University of New 
     York at Buffalo, School of Law; Professor Leslie Pickering 
     Francis, University of Utah College of Law; Associate Dean 
     George E. Garvey, The Catholic University of America.
       Professor Carole E. Goldberg-Ambrose, University of 
     California at Los Angeles, School of Law; Professor Jesse A. 
     Goldner, Saint Louis University School of Law; Associate Dean 
     Robert A. Gorman, University of Pennsylvania Law School; Dean 
     David Hall, Northeastern University School of Law; Dean 
     Joseph D. Harbaugh, University of Richmond, The T.C. Williams 
     School of Law; Professor Phillip B. Heymann, Harvard 
     University Law School; Professor Robert E. Hudec, University 
     of Minnesota Law School.
       Professor Stanley Ingber, Drake University Law School; 
     Professor John H. Jackson, University of Michigan Law School; 
     Professor Yale Kamisar, University of Michigan Law School; 
     Dean John Robert Kramer, Tulane University School of Law; 
     Dean Thomas G. Krattenmaker, College of William and Mary, 
     Marshall-Wythe School of Law; Dean Jeffrey S. Lehman, 
     University of Michigan Law School; Professor Howard Lesnick, 
     University of Pennsylvania Law School.
       Dean Lance M. Liebman, Columbia University School of Law; 
     Professor Michael Melsner, Northeastern University School of 
     Law; Dean Elliott S. Milstein, American University; Dean Gene 
     R. Nichol, Jr., University of Colorado School of Law; 
     Professor Robert O'Neil, University of Virginia School of 
     Law; Professor Daniel H. Pollitt, University of North 
     Carolina School of Law; Professor Burnele Venable Powell, 
     University of North Carolina School of Law.
       Dean Henry Ramsey, Jr., Howard University School of Law; 
     Professor Deborah L. Rhode, Stanford Law School; Dean John C. 
     Roberts, De Paul University College of Law; Professor 
     Jonathan Rose, Arizona State University; Professor Laura F. 
     Rothstein, University of Houston Law Center; Professor Mark 
     A. Rothstein, University of Houston Law Center; Associate 
     Dean David Rudenstine, Yeshiva University, Benjamin N. 
     Cardozo School of Law.
       Associate Dean Frank E.A. Sander, Bussey Professor of Law, 
     Harvard University Law School; Professor George Schatzki, 
     University of Connecticut; Professor Philip G. Schrag, 
     Georgetown University Law Center; Professor Peter H. Schuck, 
     Yale Law School; Professor Teresa Moran Schwartz, George 
     Washington University, National Law Center; Dean John A. 
     Sebert, Jr., University of Baltimore; Professor Steven H. 
     Shiffrin, Cornell Law School; President Emeritus Michael I. 
     Sovern, Columbia University School of Law; Associate Dean 
     Steven H. Steinglass, Cleveland State University, Cleveland 
     Marshall College of Law; Professor Richard B. Stewart, New 
     York University School of Law.
       Professor Theodore J. St. Antoine, University of Michigan 
     Law School; Professor David A. Strauss, University of Chicago 
     Law School; Professor Peter L. Strauss, Columbia University 
     School of Law; Professor Gerald F. Uelmen, Santa Clara 
     University School of Law; Professor James Vorenberg, Harvard 
     University Law School; Dean Harry H. Wellington, New York Law 
     School; Professor Patricia White, University of Utah, College 
     of Law; Dean Richard S. Wirtz, University of Tennessee 
     College of Law; Associate Dean Leah Wortham, The Catholic 
     University of America School of Law.
       Professors signing this letter, including the Deans, are 
     signing as individuals and not as representatives of their 
     schools.
     

                          ____________________