[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 20901]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                               JUDGESHIPS

  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, an issue I will be talking about every day 
is the issue of judgeships and the fact that we still have our judges 
bottled up, especially Bonnie Campbell, who has now been waiting 217 
days to be reported out of the committee. Yet we just had some judges 
approved this week who were nominated in July, had their hearing in 
July. They were approved. But Bonnie Campbell still sits in the 
Judiciary Committee.
  It is not right, it is not fair to her, it is not fair for our 
judicial system. Bonnie Campbell has all of the qualifications to be a 
judge on the Eighth Circuit. A former attorney general of Iowa, she did 
an outstanding job there. Since 1995, she has been the first and only 
director of the Office of Violence Against Women in the Department of 
Justice which was created by the Violence Against Women Act of 1994. 
Again, she has done an outstanding job.
  There has been some good news. During that period of time, domestic 
violence against women, in fact, has decreased. But the facts are we 
have a long way to go. In 1998, American women were the victims of 
876,340 acts of domestic violence. Domestic violence accounted for 22 
percent of violent crimes against women. During those same years, 
children under 12 lived in 43 percent of the households where domestic 
violence occurred.
  We have to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. Last week, the 
House passed by 415-3 the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women 
Act. Again, I doubt they would have passed it so overwhelmingly if its 
only person charged with enforcing that law had done a bad job in 
running the office. I did not hear one comment on the House floor, nor 
have I heard one here, that in any way indicates that Bonnie Campbell 
did not do an outstanding job as head of that office. She did do an 
outstanding job and everyone knows she did. So now we're hearing that 
the Violence Against Women Act will be attached to something else and 
pass the Senate that way.
  Yet perhaps the one person in this country who understands this issue 
and this law better than anyone else is Bonnie J. Campbell, who has 
directed that office for the last 5 years. We need people on the courts 
and on the bench who understand that law and can apply it fairly across 
our Nation. That is why we need Bonnie Campbell on the Eighth Circuit.
  Right now we have quite a lack of women serving on our circuit 
courts. Frankly, the number of women on our circuit courts is 
appalling. We need more women on our circuit courts. And we need to 
confirm them here. Of the 148 circuit judges, only 33 are women--22 
percent. That, in itself, is scandalous.
  Bonnie Campbell should be added to that list.
  Again, it doesn't seem right that Bonnie Campbell would get a hearing 
back in May and then remain bottled up in Committe. Lets go back to the 
presidential term of George Bush. During that time, every single 
district and circuit nominee who got a hearing--got a vote in 
Committee. And all but one got a vote on the Senate floor.
  Yet we are not allowed to vote on Bonnie Campbell's nomination on the 
floor. So as I said, it is not fair to her. It is not fair to the 
judicial system. It is not fair to the advise and consent clause of the 
Constitution to hold her up.
  Mr. President, I will again, today, as I will do every day, ask 
unanimous consent to discharge the Judiciary Committee of further 
consideration of this nomination.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to discharge the Judiciary 
Committee from further consideration of the nomination of Bonnie 
Campbell, the nominee for the Eighth Circuit Court, that her nomination 
be considered by the Senate immediately following the conclusion of 
action on the pending matter, that the debate on the nomination be 
limited to 2 hours equally divided and a vote on her nomination occur 
immediately following the use or yielding back of that time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Smith of Oregon). Is there objection?
  Mr. MACK. Mr. President, I object.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, again, every day I will come out and ask 
unanimous consent to get Bonnie Campbell's name out of the committee 
and on the floor for a vote. Yet the objections come from the 
Republican side of the aisle. Why, I don't know. As I said, no one has 
said she's not qualified. If someone wants to vote against her to be on 
the Eighth Circuit, that is that Senator's right--obligation, if it is 
a vote he or she feels in conscience that he or she must cast. But, 
again, I say, give her a vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The 10 minutes of the Senator has expired.
  Mr. HARKIN. I ask unanimous consent to wrap it up in about 2 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. HARKIN. So it only seems fair and right we bring her out here and 
have a vote. If people want to vote one way or the other, that is fine. 
But it is not fair, 217 days.
  I will end my comments again by saying the standard bearer of the 
Republican Party, Governor Bush of Texas, has stated there ought to be 
a 60-day deadline on judge nominations, in other words 60 days from the 
day nominated to the time they get a vote in the Senate. I endorse 
that. Bonnie Campbell has been sitting there 217 days. Let's bring her 
out for a vote.
  I will yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Florida.

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