    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
    [April 29, 2003]
    [Pages 395-396]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Statement on Senate Confirmation of Jeffrey S. Sutton as a United States Court of Appeals Circuit Judge
    April 29, 2003

        I commend the Senate for confirming Jeffrey Sutton to be a Judge on
    the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Mr. Sutton is a man of
    great integrity, intellect, and experience, and has bipartisan support.
    He has served the people of Ohio with distinction, including as the
    State's solicitor. He graduated first in his class from Ohio State
    University College of Law. He is known as one of the premier appellate
    lawyers in America, having argued numerous cases before the Supreme
    Court of the United States, and State and Federal appeals courts. He
    will be an outstanding Court of Appeals Judge and will serve the
    American people well.
        All judicial nominees should receive a timely up-or-down vote in the
    Senate. Mr. Sutton was nominated on May 9, 2001, and waited more than 23
    months for this vote. Five of the 11 nominees I submitted to the Senate
    on May 9, 2001, still have not received votes. Some in the Senate are
    now engaging in unprecedented filibusters to

    [[Page 396]]

    prevent votes on two outstanding circuit nominees I submitted on May 9,
    2001, Miguel Estrada and Priscilla
    Owen. Richman
        The delays in the Senate confirmation process deter good people from
    seeking to serve on the bench and create a vacancy crisis in the Federal
    courts that harms the American people. As I have said before, I call on
    the Senate to perform its Constitutional responsibility to hold timely
    up-or-down votes on all judicial nominees, no matter who is President or
    which party controls the Senate.