    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book II)]
    [September 5, 2002]
    [Page 1543]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1543]]

    Statement on Senate Judiciary Committee Action on the Nomination of
    Priscilla Owen
    September 5, 2002

        The Senate Judiciary Committee today voted to deny the American
    people the service of an outstanding individual with a record of
    accomplishment and a brilliant legal mind. The committee has voted down
    Justice Priscilla Owen, my nominee to serve as a judge on the Fifth
    Circuit Court of Appeals, and is preventing the full Senate from voting
    on her nomination.
        I know Justice Owen well. She is an outstanding judge and a woman of
    integrity who has received outspoken bipartisan support. Based on her
    distinguished service with the Texas Supreme Court for 7 years, the
    American Bar Association unanimously rated her ``well qualified,'' the
    highest rating the organization can bestow upon a nominee. She is known
    to be a fair and impartial judge who strives to interpret the law
    fairly.
        What the Democrat members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have
    done to Justice Owen is shameful, even by Washington standards. They
    have distorted her record and misconstrued her opinions. They have
    determined that a nominee's experience, academic credentials, and
    character are inconsequential.
        Justice Owen's nomination should be brought to the floor of the
    Senate for a vote. If the full Senate were to vote on her nomination
    today, I am confident she would be confirmed. The Democrats on the
    Judiciary Committee know this and, therefore, voted to prevent it.
        As I have said before, today's vote is about more than one woman or
    one seat on an individual court. The committee's action today continues
    its pattern of obstruction at a time when there are too many vacancies
    in our Federal courts, a problem that the Chief Justice of the United
    States has called ``alarming.'' Today's action by this small group of
    Democrat Senators is wrong. It has harmed a good person, harmed our
    courts, and harmed the American people.