[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 31 (Wednesday, February 26, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2723-S2724]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                SCHEDULE

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, the Senate will spend the day in executive 
session deliberating, once again and for the 10th day, the nomination 
of Miguel Estrada to be a circuit judge for the DC Circuit. Indeed, 
today will be a very full day. I envision a protracted session 
extending late into the evening. Rollcall votes are expected in an 
effort to make progress toward confirming this nominee in order to fill 
this judicial vacancy.
  There is an empty courtroom and a backed up docket awaiting this 
judge. I hope my colleagues will cooperate so that this ready, willing, 
and able nominee can report for work at the DC Circuit courthouse.
  I ask unanimous consent that a letter to the President dated February 
25, 2003, signed by 52 Senators, stating that they ``express the 
strong, majority support in the United States Senate for Miguel 
Estrada,'' be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                         United States Senate,

                                Washington, DC, February 25, 2003.
     The Hon. George W. Bush,
     The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, 
         DC
       Dear Mr. President: We write to express the strong, 
     majority support in the United States Senate for Miguel 
     Estrada, your nominee to the United States Court of Appeals 
     to the District of Columbia Circuit.
       Mr. Estrada's professional accomplishments and personal 
     achievement are truly impressive. He graduated magna cum 
     laude from both Columbia College, where he was elected to Phi 
     Beta Kappa, and Harvard Law School, where he served as an 
     editor of the Harvard Law Review. He clerked on the Second 
     Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the United 
     States. Miguel Estrada served with distinction as an 
     assistant U.S. Attorney in the prestigious Southern District 
     of New York, rising to Deputy Chief of the Appellate section, 
     and in the Solicitor General's office during both Republican 
     and Democrat Administrations where he argued fifteen cases 
     before the Supreme Court.
       It is no wonder Mr. Estrada received a rare, unanimous 
     rating of ``well qualified'' from the American Bar 
     Association, what many of our colleagues call the coveted 
     ``Gold Standard.''
       Mr. Estrada's professional successes are even more 
     remarkable in light of his compelling personal story. After 
     emigrating from Honduras at the age of seventeen, he reached 
     the pinnacle of his profession by overcoming a speech 
     impediment and mastering a second language. These are 
     daunting challenges for anyone; they are particularly 
     impressive when one's profession is the practice of oral 
     advocacy before the nation's highest court.
       Despite his obvious qualifications and remarkable personal 
     story, we have been unable to obtain fair consideration on 
     the Senate floor for Mr. Estrada's nomination. Nevertheless, 
     we, the undersigned majority in the United States Senate, 
     commend you for your outstanding choice, and will continue to 
     work diligently to ensure Mr. Estrada receives a simple up or 
     down vote on the Senate floor.
           Sincerely,
         Mitch McConnel, Zell Miller, Bill Frist, Conrad Burns, 
           Norm Coleman, Lisa Murkowski, Pete Domenici, Joe Kyl, 
           John Cornyn, Jim Bunning, Judd Gregg, Arlen Specter, 
           Orrin Hatch, Robert Bennett, Mike Crapo, Jim Talent, 
           Michael B. Enzi, Lindsey Graham, George Allen, Susan 
           Collins, Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Ted Stevens, Lamar 
           Alexander, Wayne Allard, Richard Shelby, Mike Dewine, 
           Craig Thomas, George V. Voinovich, Richard G. Lugar, 
           Jeff Sessions, John Ensign, Rick Santorum, John E. 
           Sununu, Elizabeth Dole, Don Nickles, Pat Roberts, James 
           Inhofe, Saxby Chambliss, Peter Fitzgerald, Trent Lott, 
           Thad Cochran, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Chuck Hagel, Larry 
           E. Craig, Gordon Smith, John McCain, Sam Brownback, Kit 
           Bond,

[[Page S2724]]

           John Warner, Chuck Grassley, Lincoln Chafee, Olmypia 
           Snowe.

  Mr. FRIST. I will be very brief, but I will quote four paragraphs 
from this letter which does demonstrate the majority support of 
Senators for this nominee. The letter itself is dated February 25, 
2003. The letter is to the President of the United States.
  First paragraph:

       Dear Mr. President, we write to express the strong, 
     majority support in the United States Senate for Miguel 
     Estrada, your nominee to the United States Court of Appeals 
     to the District of Columbia Circuit.

  The second paragraph reads:

       Mr. Estrada's professional accomplishments and personal 
     achievement are truly impressive. He graduated magna cum 
     laude from both Columbia College, where he was elected to Phi 
     Beta Kappa, and Harvard Law School, where he served as an 
     editor of the Harvard Law Review. He clerked on the Second 
     Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of the United 
     States. Miguel Estrada served with distinction as an 
     assistant U.S. attorney in the prestigious Southern District 
     of New York, rising to Deputy Chief of the Appellate section, 
     and in the Solicitor General's Office during both Republican 
     and Democrat Administrations, where he argued fifteen cases 
     before the Supreme Court.
       It is no wonder Mr. Estrada received a rare, unanimous 
     rating of ``well qualified'' from the American Bar 
     Association, what many of our colleagues called the coveted 
     ``Gold Standard.''
       Mr. Estrada's professional successes are even more 
     remarkable in light of his compelling personal story. After 
     emigrating from Honduras at the age of seventeen, he reached 
     the pinnacle of his profession by overcoming a speech 
     impediment and mastering a second language. These are 
     daunting challenges for anyone; they are particularly 
     impressive when one's profession is the practice of oral 
     advocacy before the nation's highest Court.

  Mr. President, the last paragraph before the pages of the signators 
of a majority of people in this body, 52 Senators, reads:

       Despite his obvious qualifications and remarkable personal 
     story, we have been unable to obtain fair consideration on 
     the Senate floor for Mr. Estrada's nomination. Nevertheless, 
     we, the undersigned majority in the United States Senate, 
     commend you for your outstanding choice, and will continue to 
     work diligently to ensure Mr. Estrada receives a simple up or 
     down vote on the Senate floor.

  Again, there are 4 pages of signatures. The first page is signed by 
Senators Mitch McConnell and Zell Miller, followed by 50 signatures, 
which is now in the Record.
  We will have a full day today. I look forward to continuing the 
discussions as we go forward.

                          ____________________