ConfirmThem

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-no...

"Dallas lawyer Catharina Haynes moved a step closer Thursday to a lifetime job as a federal appellate judge, as the Senate Judiciary Committee approved her nomination to the New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Ms. Haynes is a partner at Baker Botts and a former state district judge in Dallas.

The committee also approved Becky Gregory as the top federal prosecutor for the Eastern District of Texas, which runs from Plano and Sherman to Beaumont. She, too, is a Dallas lawyer and former state judge, and spent three years as first assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the committee, called both lawyers "exceptionally well-qualified" and said he hoped each would win quick approval from the full Senate."

http://video1.washingtontimes.com/fishwrap/2008/04/senate_republicans_fr...

"Senate Republicans are frustrated by what they see as an imbalance in the number of judicial nominees congressional Democrats have approved compared to the number of nominees Republican-held bodies have approved while a Democrat occupied the White House.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Republican, has hinted that he might shut down the Senate if more nominees are not marshaled through."

"Yesterday the Senate Judiciary committee approved Catharina Haynes to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and Rebecca Ann Gregory as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas, however, Specter still hasn't ruled out making a drastic move such as shutting down the Senate."

http://cornyn.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ForPress.NewsReleas...

"The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced the nominations of Becky Gregory to serve as U.S. Attorney and Catharina Haynes to serve on the federal bench. Sen. Cornyn, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said he is encouraged by progress on the two well-qualified nominees who now move to the full Senate for consideration."

"'Both Becky Gregory and Catharina Haynes are exceptionally well-qualified nominees and I’m encouraged by their progress toward final confirmation,' Sen. Cornyn said. 'These individuals have dedicated their lives to service and have strong records of accomplishment. I’m confident that they’ll uphold the law with distinction, and I hope the full Senate will move quickly to confirm them.'"

http://leahy.senate.gov/press/200804/040308b.html

"The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday acted on yet another judicial nomination and also briefly set aside extended debate about judicial nominations to approve key legislation to help Americans facing foreclosures in the current mortgage crisis. The panel’s chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), had pushed for action on the nomination as well as on an ambitious legislative agenda at Thursday’s committee voting session, after too few members had materialized for quorums in the last several weeks at earlier scheduled meetings.

Leahy welcomed the cooperation that finally permitted action on the vacancy on the Fifth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. Leahy held a hearing on the nomination of Catharina Haynes on Feb. 21 during a congressional recess, in an effort to expedite consideration of the nomination."

"The Haynes nomination, as well as four nominations for district court vacancies, are currently listed on the Senate’s Executive Calendar and await consideration by the full Senate."

So Leahy thinks he has been expediting Catharina Haynes' nomination? Listen to what he said on November 15th of last year when he could've gotten her confirmed in late November or December:

"This Committee has treated President Bush’s nominations fairly. Those who urge that we expedite the nomination of Judge Catharina Haynes to the Fifth Circuit fail to mention that the Senate has already confirmed two Fifth Circuit nominations this year, those of Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod and Judge Leslie Southwick.

I wish that President Clinton’s nominations to that same court had fared as well with a Republican Congress. When President Bush came into office in 2001, not a single Fifth Circuit nominee had been confirmed in six years, Republicans having blocked consideration of three qualified nominees to that court among the 60 judicial nominations that were pocket filibustered.

Those who urge us to expedite the nomination of Judge Haynes – a nominee from Texas – fail to mention that we have already confirmed five of President Bush’s nominees to the Fifth Circuit, three of whom were from Texas, and we have another nomination on today’s agenda for the Northern District of Texas.

Compare that record to the fate of many of President Clinton’s judicial nominees from Texas, who were blocked and delayed by the Republican majority."

It appears to me that Senator Leahy has been caught in a lie, or, otherwise, he doesn't know the actual definition of the word "expedite."

http://judiciary.senate.gov/member_statement.cfm?id=3035&wit_id=2629

is considered to be expediting it apparently

Charlton Heston, RIP:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080406/ap_on_en_mo/obit_heston