    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book II)]
    [September 27, 1997]
    [Page 1253]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1253]]

    The President's Radio Address
    September 27, 1997

        Good morning. I want to talk this morning about a very real threat
    to our judicial system. For more than 220 years, our Nation has remained
    young and strong by meeting new challenges in ways that renew our oldest
    values. Throughout our history, our judiciary has given life and meaning
    to those values by upholding the laws and defending the rights they
    reflect, without regard for politics or political party. That is the
    legacy of the judicial system our Founders established, a legacy we
    recalled this Thursday on the 40th anniversary of the court-ordered
    desegregation of Little Rock Central High School.
        But in the past 18 months, this vital partnership has broken down as
    the Senate has refused to act on nomination after nomination. And in
    Federal courthouses across America, almost 100 judges' benches are
    empty. In 1996 the Senate confirmed just 17 judges. That's the lowest
    election-year total in over 40 years. This year I've already sent 70
    nominations to Congress, but so far they've acted on less than 20. The
    result is a vacancy crisis in our courts that Supreme Court Chief
    Justice William Rehnquist warned could undermine our courts' ability to
    fairly administer justice.
        Meanwhile, our courts are clogged with a rising number of cases. An
    unprecedented number of civil cases are stalled, affecting the lives of
    tens of thousands of Americans, from the family seeking life insurance
    proceeds, to the senior citizen trying to collect Social Security
    benefits, to the small business protecting its right to compete. In our
    criminal courts, nearly 16,000 cases are caught in limbo while criminals
    on bail await punishment and victims await justice. Our sitting judges
    are overloaded and overworked, and our justice system is strained to the
    breaking point.
        The Senate's failure to act on my nominations, or even to give many
    of my nominees a hearing, represents the worst of partisan politics.
    Under the pretense of preventing so-called judicial activism, they've
    taken aim at the very independence our Founders sought to protect. The
    congressional leadership has actually threatened sitting judges with
    impeachment, merely because it disagrees with their judicial opinions.
    Under this politically motivated scrutiny, under ever-mounting
    caseloads, our judges must struggle to enforce the laws Congress passes
    and to do justice for us all.
        We can't let partisan politics shut down our courts and gut our
    judicial system. I've worked hard to avoid that. And the people I've
    nominated for judgeships and had confirmed have had the highest rating
    of well qualified from the American Bar Association of any President
    since these ratings have been kept.
        So today I call upon the Senate to fulfill its constitutional duty
    to fill these vacancies. The intimidation, the delay, the shrill voices
    must stop so the unbroken legacy of our strong, independent judiciary
    can continue for generations to come. This age demands that we work
    together in bipartisan fashion, and the American people deserve no less,
    especially when it comes to enforcing their rights, enforcing the law,
    and protecting the Constitution.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 6 p.m. on September 26 in the
    Presidential Suite of the Westin Oaks Galleria Hotel in Houston, TX, for
    broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on September 27.