President's Nominees Deserve Up-or-Down Vote, Cornyn Says

PRESIDENT'S NOMINEES DESERVE UP-OR-DOWN VOTE, CORNYN SAYS

President sends 20 nominations to the Senate, Cornyn calls for 'fresh start' for process, restoration of 51-vote tradition for confirmation of judges

Monday, February 14, 2005

WASHINGTON-U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the following statement Monday regarding President Bush's renomination of 20 individuals to the federal judiciary who did not receive up-or-down votes in the President's first term, some of whom were first nominated more than three years ago:

"Though recent comments by the Senate Democrat leadership cause me to think otherwise, it is my sincere hope that with a new Senate, tempered by the last two elections, we will have a fresh start to the confirmation process.

"Sadly, the judicial confirmation process has become increasingly divisive in recent years, and as a former judge, I am deeply troubled by that. But surely all Americans can agree that we should have the same rules regardless of which party controls the White House and the Senate. For 200 years, we have had a majority-vote standard for judicial nominees. Senate Democrats should not try to change that rule just because a Republican now occupies the White House.

"It would make no sense to require Republicans to be elected by a 60 percent vote, while only requiring 51 percent of Democrats. Similarly, our Constitution and Senate tradition provide that a majority of senators may confirm a judicial nominee, whether the president is a Democrat or Republican. The Senate should reject the double standard that Democrats have created for confirming President Bush's nominees and restore our constitutional and traditional standards.

"The American people sent a strong message on November 2 against the obstructionist tactics that, unfortunately, we saw all too often in the past four years. I'm hopeful that the will of the American people has been made clear to the obstructionists and that these 20 nominees will receive swift up-or-down votes, as all judicial nominees deserve."

Sen. Cornyn, as a member of the Judiciary Committee, has been active in working to confirm the President's judicial nominees. He and Justice Priscilla Owen served together on the Texas Supreme Court for three years.

The nominees sent to the Senate on Monday were obstructed in the 108th Congress, and despite majority, bipartisan support, never received an up-or-down vote in the Senate.Throughout history the Senate has consistently confirmed judges who enjoyed majority but not 60-vote support - including Clinton appointees Richard Paez, William Fletcher, and Susan Oki Mollway, and Carter appointees Abner Mikva and L. T. Senter. Yet some Washington interest groups, and a partisan minority of the Senate now demand that this president's judicial nominees must be supported by a supermajority of senators, or else be denied even the courtesy of an up-or-down vote, through the unprecedented use of the filibuster.

--Below is the list of candidates President Bush has renominated to judicial seats--

Court of Appeals:

Terrence W. Boyle (4th Circuit) (first nominated May 9, 2001)

Priscilla Richman Owen (5th Circuit) (first nominated May 9, 2001)

David W. McKeague (6th Circuit) (first nominated November 8, 2001)

Susan Bieke Neilson (6th Circuit) (first nominated November 8, 2001)

Henry W. Saad (6th Circuit) (first nominated November 8, 2001)

Richard A. Griffin (6th Circuit) (first nominated June 26, 2002)

William H. Pryor (11th Circuit) (first nominated April 9, 2003)

William Gerry Myers, III (9th Circuit) (first nominated May 15, 2003)

Janice Rogers Brown (District of Columbia Circuit) (first nominated July 25, 2003)

Brett M. Kavanaugh (District of Columbia Circuit) (first nominated July 25, 2003)

William James Haynes, II (4th Circuit) (first nominated September 29, 2003)

Thomas B. Griffith (District of Columbia Circuit) (first nominated May 10, 2004)

District Courts:

James C. Dever, III (Eastern District, North Carolina) (first nominated May 22, 2002)

Thomas L. Ludington (Eastern District, Michigan) (first nominated September 12, 2002)

Robert J. Conrad (Western District, North Carolina) (first nominated April 28, 2003)

Daniel P. Ryan (Eastern District, Michigan) (first nominated April 28, 2003)

Peter G. Sheridan (New Jersey) (first nominated November 5, 2003)

Paul A. Crotty (Southern District, New York) (first nominated September 7, 2004)

Sean F. Cox (Eastern District, Michigan) (first nominated September 10, 2004)

J. Michael Seabright (Hawaii) (first nominated September 15, 2004)

Also formally nominated were:

Jennifer M. Anderson, of the District of Columbia, to be Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for the term of fifteen years, vice Steffen W. Graae, retired.

Laura A. Cordero, of the District of Columbia, to be Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for the term of fifteen years, vice Shellie F. Bowers, retired.

A. No?l Anketell Kramer, of the District of Columbia, to be a Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals for the term of fifteen years, vice John M. Steadman, retired.

Juliet JoAnn McKenna, of the District of Columbia, to be Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for the term of fifteen years, vice Nan R. Shuker, retired.

Gretchen C.F. Shappert, of North Carolina, to be United States Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, for the term of four years, vice Robert J. Conrad, Jr., resigned.

Earl C. Aguigui, of Guam, to be United States Marshal for the District of Guam and concurrently United States Marshal for the District of the Northern Mariana Islands for the term of four years, vice Joaquin L.G. Salas, term expired.

http://cornyn.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=232141