For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 11, 2003
President Calls for Action on Judicial Nominations
Text of a Letter from the President to Senator Frist and Senator Daschle
Policy in Focus: Judicial Nominations
Dear Senator Frist: (Dear Senator Daschle:)
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
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
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