ConfirmThem

By Paul Zummo Posted in Uncategorized — Comments () / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Here are Senator Frist's remarks today on the floor of the US Senate. (Hat tip to Katie Harbath)

Mr. President, over the last three days, for more than 25 hours, the Senate has debated a simple principle - whether qualified judicial nominees with the support of a majority of Senators deserve an up or down vote on the Senate floor.

A thorough debate is an important step in the judicial nominations process.

But debate should not be the final step.

Debate should culminate with a decision.

And the decision should be expressed through a fair up or down vote.

The Constitution grants the Senate the power to confirm or reject the President’s judicial nominees. In exercising this duty, the Senate traditionally has followed a careful and deliberate process with three key components:

1) We investigate,

2) We debate,

3) We decide.

We investigate by examining nominees in committee hearings and studying their background and qualifications.

We debate by publicly discussing the nominees in committee and on the floor.

And we decide through an up-or-down vote.

Investigate, debate, decide. That is how the Senate and the judicial nominations process operated for 214 years.

But in 2003, the Senate stopped short of a decision. A minority of Senators began blocking final votes on judicial nominations.

As a result, nominees have been left in limbo, courthouses sit empty, justice is delayed, political rhetoric has escalated and political civility has suffered.

It is time once again to decide. The moment draws closer when all 100 Senators must decide a basic question of principle – whether to restore the precedent of a fair up or down vote for judicial nominees on this floor or to enshrine a new tyranny of the minority into the Senate rules forever.

I favor fairness and an up or down vote.

The individual nominee now before the Senate is Priscilla Owen.

Justice Owen is a qualified, mainstream judicial nominee.

She is a sitting member of the Texas Supreme Court who has received the highest possible rating by the American Bar Association.

She has been reelected by 84% of the people in her home state.

More than four years ago, the President nominated her to be a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Since then, the Senate has thoroughly and exhaustively investigated and debated her nomination. A brief look at the record tells the story-

· The Judiciary Committee has held two hearings on her nomination, lasting more than 9 hours.

· During the hearings, Justice Owen answered more than 400 questions from Senators on the Committee.

· After the hearings, Justice Owen submitted 90 pages of responses to an additional 118 written questions.

· The Judiciary Committee has debated her an additional 5 hours before committee votes.

· And today marks the 20th day of Senate floor debate on Justice Owen’s nomination, more debate than on all the sitting Supreme Court justices combined.

Yet, Justice Owen has not received one, single up or down vote on the Senate floor. Not one.

Four years of waiting, nine hours of committee hearings, more than 500 questions answered, another five hours of committee debate, and 20 days of floor debate - but not one up or down vote. Not one.

As Majority Leader, I have tried for two years to find a mutually agreeable solution that will resolve this issue without sacrificing the core principle of an up or down vote.

I have offered to guarantee up to 100 hours of debate for every judicial nominee, far more than has ever been necessary for any nominee in the past.

I have offered to guarantee that no nominee ever becomes unjustly stalled in the Judiciary Committee, as some colleagues have alleged occurred in previous Congresses. Thus far, these efforts have not been successful.

I remain hopeful that the Senate will restore the tradition of fair up-or-down votes without the need for procedural and parliamentary tactics.

Tomorrow, Senators have another opportunity to diffuse this controversy.

A cloture motion is pending before the Senate. If cloture is invoked, it will bring debate to an orderly close.

With cloture pending, 60 votes cast in the affirmative tomorrow would yield a fair, up or down vote on Justice Owen.

So, I look forward to the debate ahead. I look forward to hearing from my colleagues.

And I look forward to a decision by all 100 Senators on the nomination of Justice Owen, a decision expressed through a vote.

A vote to confirm or to reject. A vote up or down.

The American people expect us to act, not just debate. They expect results, not just rhetoric.

We may not agree on every judicial nominee. But we can agree on the principle that every qualified judicial nominee deserves an up-or-down vote.