[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 26 (Monday, July 3, 2000)]
[Pages 1562-1563]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Nomination of Roger Gregory to the United States Court 
of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

June 30, 2000

    Today I am very pleased to announce the nomination of Roger Gregory 
to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. 
Roger Gregory is a highly qualified candidate who will, if confirmed, 
serve the fourth circuit and our Nation with distinction.
    His life story is also a testament to the power and promise of the 
American dream. Roger Gregory is from Richmond, Virginia, and is the 
first in his family to finish high school. He went on to college and law 
school, returning as a young adjunct professor to a school where his 
mother had worked as a maid. Today Roger Gregory is a highly respected 
Richmond litigator. He has tried hundreds of cases in the Virginia 
courts.
    I am honored to nominate Roger Gregory because he is highly 
qualified and a strong candidate. But I am also proud to nominate a man 
who, if confirmed, will be the first African-American ever to serve on 
the fourth circuit. The fourth circuit has the largest African-American 
population of any circuit in this country, yet it has never had an 
African-American appellate judge. It is long past time to right that 
wrong. Justice may be blind, but we all know that diversity in the 
courts, as in all aspects of society, sharpens our vision and makes us a 
stronger nation. Roger Gregory's confirmation would be an historic step 
for the people of Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, 
West Virginia, and for American justice.
    The fourth circuit needs Roger Gregory. Its caseload has increased 
by over 15 percent in just 5 years yet more than a quarter of its bench 
stands empty. The seat for which I have nominated Roger Gregory has been 
declared a judicial emergency by the Administrative Office of the United 
States Courts. It has been vacant almost a decade, longer than any seat 
in the Nation. That is an embarrassment for any American who cares about 
our justice system. We cannot be tough on crime if our courts cannot 
conduct judicial

[[Page 1563]]

reviews promptly and efficiently. And we cannot be tough on crime if the 
message we send Americans is that we do not care about our courts.
    By all rights, Roger Gregory should be given a Senate vote in the 
next few months. But the Senate's failure to fulfill its obligations 
with respect to my nominees gives me cause for profound concern. Thirty-
nine of my judicial nominees are pending before the Senate. These 
nominees have been kept waiting, on average, 273 days. And the fourth 
circuit has fared particularly poorly--my other fourth circuit nominee, 
Judge James Wynn, an African-American judge on the North Carolina Court 
of Appeals, has already been kept waiting for 330 days. I urge the 
Senate to give Roger Gregory and Judge Wynn the Senate votes that they 
so richly deserve.
    We cannot afford to allow political considerations to empty our 
courts and put justice on hold. I have worked very hard to avoid 
contentious ideological fights over nominees. I have worked hard to put 
forward good, qualified candidates who reflect the diversity of our 
Nation. The judges I have nominated during my tenure as President are 
the most diverse group in history. They have also garnered, as a group, 
the highest American Bar Association ratings of any President's nominees 
in nearly 40 years. They have shattered the myth that diversity and 
quality do not go hand in hand. But despite the high qualifications of 
my nominees, there is a mounting vacancy crisis in our courts. Too 
often, we are creating situations in which justice delayed means justice 
denied. And ultimately, if we fail to make our courts reflect America, 
we risk an America where there may be less respect for the decisions of 
our courts.