[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Page 4310]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         JUDICIAL CONFIRMATIONS

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, last night the Senate confirmed two more 
Federal judicial nominees of President Bush: Judge Louis Guirola to the 
Southern District of Mississippi and Neil Wake to the District of 
Arizona. With these confirmations, the Senate has now confirmed 173 
judicial nominees of this President. That is more than during the 
entire four years of the first term of President Reagan, from 1981 
through 1984, and just two fewer than were confirmed in all 4 years of 
President Clinton's second term in office from 1997 through 2000. We 
have reduced the number of vacancies in the Federal courts to 43, the 
lowest number in more than 13 years.
  These two confirmations bring to four the number of judicial nominees 
confirmed in the first few weeks in session this year. The American 
people should remember that the Republican Senate leadership in 1996 
allowed only 17 judicial nominees of President Clinton to be confirmed 
all year. I remain confident that with the cooperation of the 
administration, the Senate this year will be able to match the total 
from that Presidential election year, the last year of President 
Clinton's first term. We are well ahead of the pace Republicans 
achieved in 1996. The four judges confirmed so far this year is four 
more than were confirmed on this date in 1996.
  The two nominees confirmed last night had their hearings this year 
but two others, J. Leon Holmes and Judge Dora Irizarry, had hearings 
last year, were reported by the Judiciary Committee last year, and 
still have not been scheduled for a vote by the Republican leadership. 
Democrats have been ready to debate and vote on these nominees for many 
months. They have generated some controversy and will need to be 
debated before the vote, but there is no Democratic ``hold'' on either 
nomination of which I am aware and no Democratic objection to a full 
and fair debate on each as far as I know.

                          ____________________