For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 5, 2002
President Calls Senate Judiciary Committee Action "Shameful"
Statement by the President
The Senate Judiciary Committee today voted to deny the American people
the service of an outstanding individual with a record of
accomplishment and a brilliant legal mind. The Committee has voted
down Justice Priscilla Owen, my nominee to serve as a Judge on the 5th
Circuit Court of Appeals and is preventing the full Senate from voting
on her nomination.
I know Justice Owen well. She is an outstanding judge and a woman
of integrity who has received outspoken bipartisan support. Based on
her distinguished service with the Texas Supreme Court for seven years,
the American Bar Association unanimously rated her, "well qualified,"
the highest rating the organization can bestow upon a nominee. She is
known to be a fair and impartial judge who strives to interpret the law
fairly.
What the Democrat members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have
done to Justice Owen is shameful, even by Washington standards. They
have distorted her record and misconstrued her opinions. They have
determined that a nominee's experience, academic credentials, and
character are inconsequential.
Justice Owen's nomination should be brought to the floor of the
Senate for a vote. If the full Senate were to vote on her nomination
today, I am confident she would be confirmed. The Democrats on the
Judiciary Committee know this, and therefore, voted to prevent it.
As I have said before, today's vote is about more than one woman,
or one seat on an individual court. The Committee's action today
continues its pattern of obstruction at a time when there are too many
vacancies in our federal courts, a problem that the Chief Justice of
the United States has called "alarming." Today's action by this small
group of Democrat Senators is wrong. It has harmed a good person,
harmed our courts, and harmed the American people.
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