[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 40, Number 28 (Monday, July 12, 2004)]
[Pages 1211-1212]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks Following a Meeting With Judicial Nominees in Waterford, 
Michigan

July 7, 2004

    Good afternoon. I just met with six of my judicial nominees from the 
State of Michigan. I knew these were decent people, capable people, when 
I nominated them. My meeting with them today confirmed that. These are 
good people.
    They are of the highest caliber. They've been rated well by the ABA, 
``qualified'' or ``well-qualified.'' In other words, the experts have 
taken a look at them and said these are qualified people to do the job. 
They're devoted public servants. They--their nominations are stalled 
because of the tactics of a minority of Senators. These are superb 
nominees. They deserve a vote. They deserve to have their day on the 
Senate floor.
    Four of the nominees are waiting to join the Sixth Circuit Court of 
Appeals. David McKeague was confirmed unanimously by the Senate 12 years 
ago to serve as a Federal judge for the Western District of Michigan. 
Susan Neilson is an outstanding judge with more than a decade of 
experience on the bench. Henry Saad is a State appeals court judge. 
Richard Griffin has had 16 years of experience as a State judge. These 
experienced and dedicated individuals are needed, vitally needed, on the 
Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. I'll tell you why. Congress has 
authorized 16 judges for this court, yet 4 seats are vacant. All four of 
these vacancies have been designated judicial emergencies by the 
Judicial Conference of the United States. It is irresponsible for the 
United States Senate to deny an appeals court 25 percent of the judges 
it needs.
    My nominees for the district courts in Michigan have also waited far 
too long. Tom Ludington, a respected State judge for nearly

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10 years, has waited more than 21 months without a vote. Dan Ryan, a 
jurist with a decade of experience on the State bench, is held up for 
more than a year. I believe this treatment is unfair. I believe it's 
disrespectful. It is a disservice to the people of this State.
    My Michigan nominees are not only the ones--are not the only ones 
being blocked by a Senate minority. Since I took office, more appeals 
court nominees have been forced to wait over a year just for a hearing 
than in the past 50 years combined. Six of my appeal court nominees have 
earned enough support to be confirmed by a vote on the floor of the 
Senate yet have been filibustered. It's an unprecedented step against 
appeals court nominees.
    I believe this is unfair treatment. I believe that some Senators are 
doing this because they don't appreciate the fact that I named judges 
who will faithfully interpret the law, not legislate from the bench. 
They apparently want activist judges who will rewrite the law from the 
bench. I believe if laws need to be written, they need to be written by 
the legislature, by the legislative body.
    Some Members are undermining the quality of justice in America by 
playing politics with these nominees. You see, vacancies on the bench 
leave sitting judges overworked. They cause needless delays in the 
provision of justice.
    Now, I am pleased that the Senate recently voted on 25 of my 
judicial nominees. That was a welcome step. Yet it's not enough. These 
six from Michigan have waited far too long. The Senate must hear that 
there is an emergency. The time for giving these men and women a fair 
hearing is now. They deserve an up-or-down vote. I proposed a way to fix 
this system, and that is for judges to provide a one-year advance notice 
on retirement or departure. Upon that notice, the President would select 
a nominee within 180 days. And then the Senate would hold both a hearing 
and an up-or-down vote within 180 days of the nomination. This seems 
fair to me. It would treat these people who are willing to serve fairly.
    I met with the six members, six nominees, because I wanted to assure 
them I was not going to abandon their nomination, no matter what the 
politics was like in the U.S. Senate. And I wanted to thank them for 
their patience. It's not easy to be nominated and then have your hearing 
held up for political purposes.
    These are good, decent people. I asked them to thank their families. 
And now I'm calling upon the Senators from this State and the minority 
of Senators who were refusing to move my nominees along to be fair and 
just give them a vote. They can express their opinions about whether or 
not they think these judges are qualified. Obviously, I think they are. 
They can argue about their judicial temperament, and that's a fine 
debate. But for fairness sake, give them a vote, up or down.
    The people of Michigan must know that six good, decent Michiganders 
who are capable people are not being allowed to serve their State on the 
Federal benches because of politics being played in Washington, DC.
    Thank you for giving me a chance to come by and discuss this very 
important issue. I appreciate it.

Note: The President spoke at 4:50 p.m. at the Oakland County 
International Airport.