Nomination of Priscilla Richman Owen, of Texas, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit

NOMINATION OF PRISCILLA RICHMAN OWEN, OF TEXAS, TO BE UNITED STATES CIRCUIT JUDGE FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT

Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, they say one picture says a thousand words; one sign will equal 30 hours of palaver. The bottom line is very simple, we have supported and confirmed 168 judges whom President Bush has sent us. We have blocked 4.

All the rhetoric, all the splitting of hairs, all the talking about angels on the head of a pin don't equal that. This debate will
boomerang on my colleagues from the other side of the aisle because all the American people have to do is look at that sign and they say: Gee, you're right.

The bottom line is the President, the majority leader, and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee will not be content unless every single judge the President nominates is rubberstamped by this body. That is what they want. We all know it. We have been very careful and very judicious in whom we have opposed.

People who are getting life appointments should not be extremists, should not be out of the mainstream, should not be asked to roll back 30 or 60 years of jurisprudence, and the four we have blocked fall in that category.

The bottom line is very simple: If you want agreement, then read the Constitution and tell the President, in all due respect, to read the Constitution. It says advise and consent. Advise means consult. We get no consultation. Consent means the Senate does its own independent review. That is what we have done.

So I understand why early on this sign vexed my colleagues from the other side. The bottom line is simple: We have been reasonable; we have been careful; we have been moderate; we have been judicious. The other side and the President simply say my way or the highway. That will not stand.