[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 7]
[House]
[Pages 9936-9937]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               UP-OR-DOWN VOTE FOR JUSTICE PRISCILLA OWEN

  (Mr. BURGESS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURGESS. Madam Speaker, I too rise this morning, along with my 
fellow Texans, to recommend to the other body that they have an up-or- 
down vote on Justice Priscilla Owen. Justice Owen has been elected by 
the people of Texas to the State Supreme Court two times, the second 
time in the year 2000 with an overwhelming

[[Page 9937]]

popular majority. During her last election, Justice Owen was endorsed 
by every major newspaper in the State of Texas.
  Mr. C. Boyden Gray, writing an article about this, said: ``The 
members of the Texas legal community know Justice Owen to be a jurist 
of the highest integrity, one who is committed to following the law, no 
matter where it leads.''
  The Dallas Morning News editorialized after she was nominated 4 years 
ago that ``Justice Owen's lifelong record is one of accomplishment and 
integrity. She is one of the few judicial nominees to receive the 
unanimous `well-qualified' rating from the American Bar Association.''
  The chairman of the Texas Commission on Judicial Efficiency, Baylor 
University President Herbert Reynolds, said, ``Based on my knowledge of 
Justice Owen for the past 30 years, I believe you simply cannot make a 
more solid choice for the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.''
  I urge the other body to have an up-or-down vote.

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