[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 126 (Monday, October 3, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10813-S10814]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NOMINATION OF HARRIET MIERS

  Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, this is a momentous day in the history of 
our Nation. For the first time in two decades, a new Chief Justice 
ascends to the bench of the highest Court in the land. Today, John 
Roberts is leading the Supreme Court as the 17th Chief Justice of the 
United States. And today, with the nomination of Harriet Miers as an 
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, we are faced with yet another 
opportunity to shape the course of history.
  President Bush's choice of Harriet Miers demonstrated a thoughtful, 
careful, and discerning selection. Once again, the President reached 
out in a bipartisan way to more than 80 Senators. Once again, the 
President chose a qualified nominee for our High Court.
  During her distinguished 35-year legal career, Ms. Miers has 
demonstrated her expertise as a talented attorney in both private 
practice and in public service. In every sense, Harriet Miers has been 
a true trailblazer and a role model for women in the legal profession.
  As a young attorney, she overcame numerous obstacles to become the 
first female hired by her Dallas law firm. She impressed her colleagues 
so much that they elected her president of the firm, making her the 
first woman to lead a Texas firm of that size.
  Ms. Miers has been a pillar of leadership in the legal community. She 
was the first female elected president of the Dallas Bar Association 
and head of the State Bar of Texas. She has served as trusted adviser 
to President Bush in various capacities and currently serves as White 
House Counsel.
  Since she has not served as a judge, she will bring a unique 
perspective to

[[Page S10814]]

the Court. In fact, 41 of the 109 Supreme Court Justices who have 
served, including Chief Justice Rehnquist, did not have prior judicial 
experience.

  What the President saw in Ms. Miers and what I see in her is that she 
embodies each of the qualities we seek in a Supreme Court Justice. She 
is fair, honest, and of the highest integrity. Her resume is a study in 
the time-honored values of hard work and perseverance. She understands 
the importance of judicial restraint and the limited role of the judge 
to interpret the law and not legislate from the bench.
  She deserves a fair and civil hearing and a dignified debate on the 
Senate floor, followed by a fair up-or-down vote before Thanksgiving.
  As we move ahead with the nomination process, I hope we will carry 
forward the lessons we have learned from Chief Justice Roberts' recent 
nomination. His nomination progressed expeditiously and in a bipartisan 
manner. I commend Chairman Specter, Ranking Member Leahy, the Judiciary 
Committee, and the entire Senate for setting a standard to follow. We 
put principle above partisanship. We put results above rhetoric. We 
followed the framework intended by the Framers of the Constitution. By 
doing this, we helped to preserve the integrity and legitimacy of the 
judicial nomination process. And today, our Supreme Court and our 
Federal judiciary are stronger for it.
  From the Roberts confirmation we have learned and a bipartisan group 
of Senators agree that Senators can make an informed decision on the 
fitness of a judicial nominee by focusing on the individual's 
qualifications and not her political ideology. We have learned that a 
nominee's fitness to serve on the Federal bench can be determined by 
reviewing her record, her writings, and testimony, without probing into 
confidential, privileged documents. We have learned that nominees can 
and should answer questions without compromising their judicial 
independence and without prejudging cases, and we should not expect 
them to prejudge cases or issues that may come before the Court. A 
nominee who prejudges is truthfully the antithesis of what we want in a 
judge. We want an individual who approaches every case with a fair and 
open mind, analyzing the facts before them and applying the law. 
Perhaps the most important lesson we have learned from Chief Justice 
Roberts' nomination is that we should apply a single fair standard to 
all judicial nominees.
  With Harriet Miers' nomination before the Senate, we must again move 
expeditiously but carefully. It is my expectation that the Senate will 
give Ms. Miers the fair and civil hearing, the dignified debate, and 
the fair up-or-down vote she deserves. I believe the Senate has moved 
beyond the obstructionism of the recent past, and in moving forward we 
will adhere to the time-honored principle that all judicial nominees 
deserve a fair up-or-down vote. That vote should occur by Thanksgiving. 
With civility, trust, and hard work, we can accomplish this goal.

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