[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2003, Book I)]
[March 11, 2003]
[Pages 258-259]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Letter to Senate Leaders on the Nomination of Miguel A. Estrada To Be a United States Court of Appeals Circuit
Judge
March 11, 2003
Dear _____ :
The Senate is debating the nomination of Miguel A. Estrada to be a
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit. Miguel Estrada's life is an example of the American Dream. He
came to this country from Honduras as a teenager barely speaking English
and went on to graduate with honors from Harvard Law School. He has
argued 15 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States and served
in the United States Department of Justice under Presidents of both
political parties. The American Bar Association has given him its
highest rating. When appointed, he will be the first Hispanic ever to
serve on the D.C. Circuit.
I submitted Mr. Estrada's nomination to the Senate on May 9, 2001.
But his nomination has been stalled for partisan reasons for nearly 2
years in which the Senate has not held a vote either to confirm or to
reject the nomination.
The Senate has a solemn responsibility to exercise its
constitutional advice and consent function and hold up or down votes on
judicial nominees within a reasonable time after nomination. Senators
who are filibustering a vote on Miguel Estrada are flouting the
intention of the United States Constitution and the tradition of the
United States Senate. The filibuster is the culmination of an escalating
series of back-and-forth tactics that have marred the judicial
confirmation process for years, as many judicial nominees have never
received up or down Senate votes. And now, a minority of Senators are
threatening for the first time to use ideological filibusters as a
standard tool to indefinitely block confirmation of well-qualified
nominees with strong bipartisan support. This has to end.
The judicial confirmation process is broken, and the consequences
for the American people are real. Because of the Senate's failure to
hold timely votes, the number of judicial vacancies has been
unacceptably high during my Presidency and those of President Bill
Clinton and President George H.W.
Bush. . The Chief Justice has warned that the
high number of judicial vacancies, when combined with the ever-
increasing caseloads, leads to crowded courts and threatens the
administration of justice. When understaffed, the Federal courts cannot
act in a timely manner to resolve disputes that affect the lives and
liberties of all Americans. The courts cannot decide constitutional
cases promptly, which harms people seeking to vindicate and protect
their rights, and the courts cannot rule on commercial cases
efficiently, which hurts the economy, businesses, and workers. Our
system of equal justice under law administered fairly and efficiently is
at risk. The American Bar Association in 2002
[[Page 259]]
accurately described the situation as an ``emergency.''
My concern about the state of the judicial confirmation process is
not new. In June 2000, I proposed timely votes for all nominees, stating
that the confirmation process ``does not empower anyone to turn the
process into a protracted ordeal of unreasonable delay and unrelenting
investigation.'' In May 2001, when I announced my first judicial
nominations, I urged the Senate to rise above the bitterness of the past
and again asked that every judicial nominee receive a timely up or down
vote. In October 2002, after nearly two additional years in which too
many nominees did not receive votes, I proposed a specific, commonsense
plan involving all three Branches that, among other steps, would ensure
that all judicial nominees receive an up or down Senate vote within 180
days of nomination.
Over the years, many Senators of both political parties have
publicly agreed with the principle that every judicial nominee should
receive a timely up or down Senate vote. Similarly, the Federal
Judiciary, speaking through the Chief Justice in his 2001 Year-End
Report, has stated that the Senate should ``schedule up or down votes on
judicial nominees within a reasonable time after receiving the
nomination.''
I ask Senators of both parties to come together to end the
escalating cycle of blame and bitterness and to restore fairness,
predictability, and dignity to the process. I ask that the Senate take
action, including adoption of a permanent rule, to ensure timely up or
down votes on judicial nominations both now and in the future, no matter
who is President or which party controls the Senate. This is the only
way to ensure that our Judiciary works and that good people remain
willing to be nominated to the Federal bench.
All Senators should have a chance to have their voices heard and
their votes counted. All Presidents should have their judicial nominees
considered and voted upon in a reasonable time. All nominees should have
the certainty of an up or down Senate vote within a reasonable time. All
Judges should have the assurance that vacancies on their courts will not
persist for years. And all Americans should have the assurance that the
Federal courts will remain open and fully staffed to resolve their
disputes and protect their rights and liberties.
As I stated last October, the current state of affairs in the United
States Senate is not merely another round of political wrangling. It is
a disturbing failure to meet a responsibility under the Constitution.
Our country deserves better, the process can work better, and we can
make it better. The Constitution has given us a shared duty, and we must
meet that duty together. Thank you for your attention to this important
matter.
Sincerely,
George W. Bush
Note: Letters were sent to Bill Frist, Senate majority leader, and
Thomas A. Daschle, Senate minority leader. An original was not available
for verification of the content of this letter.