[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 39, Number 10 (Monday, March 10, 2003)]
[Page 295]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Senate Filibuster To Block a Vote on the Nomination of 
Miguel Estrada

March 6, 2003

    Miguel Estrada is a well-qualified nominee to the U.S. Court of 
Appeals who has been waiting nearly 2 years for an up or down vote in 
the United States Senate. The decision today by 44 Senators to continue 
to filibuster and block a vote on this nomination is a disgrace.
    The Senate has a responsibility to exercise its constitutional 
advice and consent function and hold an up or down vote on a judicial 
nominee within a reasonable time. Some Senators who once insisted that 
every appeals court nominee deserves a timely vote have now abandoned 
that principle for partisan politics. Their tactics are an injustice and 
unfair to the good man I have nominated and unfaithful to the Senate's 
own obligations.
    These Senators are holding Miguel Estrada to a double standard. I 
will stand by Miguel Estrada's side until he is sworn in as a judge. I 
call on the Senate Democratic leadership to stop playing politics and 
permit a vote on Miguel Estrada's nomination. Let each Senator vote as 
he or she thinks best, but give the man a vote.