[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 24012-24013]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         CONFIRMATION OF JUDGES

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I was not planning on speaking this morning. 
However, my friend from Texas, the junior Senator from Texas, talked 
about something that I think deserves a response.
  The Senator from Texas said--and I quote--there has been ``an 
unprecedented act of obstruction.'' He is referring to President Bush's 
nominees being withheld, not allowing votes on judges.
  Mr. President, I do not know--and I do not mean this to be cute or 
smart or mean spirited, but I do not know what kind of math my friend 
from Texas is using if he is talking about unprecedented acts of 
obstruction.
  Right now in the Federal judiciary there is a 5-percent vacancy rate. 
We have four judges on the calendar now, and they will be approved 
within the next, probably, 24 hours. So that will

[[Page 24013]]

bring the number of judges approved during the Bush administration to 
nearly 170. I do not have the exact number. I have lost track of it but 
nearly 170.
  Three judges have been turned down: Bill Pryor from Alabama, Miguel 
Estrada from the District of Columbia, and Priscilla Owen from Texas.
  Unprecedented obstructionism? We are talking about 170 to 3. So my 
math indicates that is pretty good.
  When Senator Daschle took control of the Senate as majority leader, a 
decision was made that there would be no payback. It would not be 
payback time. In fact, a decision was made that we would do everything 
we could to get the nominations approved that were sent to us by 
President Bush. We have done that. The record is clear.
  However, my friend from Texas should go back and look at how 
President Clinton was treated. People waited for years and years and 
were not even allowed a hearing. As we know, it was necessary on a 
number of occasions to file cloture. Cloture was invoked, and the 
judges were approved.
  It is easy to come on the Senate floor and throw out terms such as 
``unprecedented acts of obstructionism,'' but it is not true. No matter 
how many times you say it, it still is not true.
  Pat Leahy, who has been the chairman and ranking member of the 
Judiciary Committee during the approximately 3 years of the Bush 
Presidency, has done an outstanding job of moving these judges. I don't 
know how we could do better. I guess we could be a rubber stamp for the 
President's nominees. That is not what the Founding Fathers envisioned. 
They believed these names should be submitted to the Senate. The Senate 
should evaluate them and make a decision at that time whether or not 
the nominees are what the country should have in the way of judges.
  A decision was made in the case of Miguel Estrada. He didn't answer 
questions. He would not supply his memoranda from his time as Solicitor 
General. For those and other reasons, he was not approved. Priscilla 
Owen was criticized by the President's own lawyer, Mr. Gonzales, who is 
now the White House chief lawyer. He and Priscilla Owen served together 
on the Texas Supreme Court. She was criticized very heavily by Mr. 
Gonzales at that time. That is just a little bit of her problem. We 
know that she, by almost any standard, was quite radical--an activist, 
for lack of a better word. And we know Attorney General Pryor from 
Alabama was someone whose record was not such that he should become a 
lifetime appointment on the Federal bench.
  That is 3, 3 to approximately 170. I do not know the exact number, 
but that is fairly close. By any math course you ever took, 170 to 3 is 
pretty good. In fact, it is real good. I wish we had had that kind of 
treatment when Bill Clinton was President.
  I again remind everyone the vacancy rate in the Federal judiciary is 
now 5 percent. It is the best it has been in decades. Rather than 
having people come and push these little barbs at the Democrats on the 
Judiciary Committee, they should be giving them accolades for the 
cooperation they have maintained during President Bush's tenure.
  Mr. President, it is my understanding the distinguished Senator from 
North Carolina wishes to speak as in morning business. Her time is 
gone.
  Mrs. DOLE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to proceed for up 
to 1 minute.
  Mr. REID. And let us have a minute on our side.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered. The Senator from North Carolina is recognized for up to 1 
minute.

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