Bishop Gracida: Act now to stop Arlen Specter

CWNews.com | Nov. 05 | CWNews.com

[St. Johann Tetzel]

The Forum: Bishop Gracida: Act now to stop Arlen Specter

by Phil's Forum Writers

special to CWNews.com

Nov. 05 (CWNews.com) - A message from Bishop Rene Henry Gracida, emeritus of Corpus Christi, Texas:

The euphoria we felt Tuesday night and Wednesday morning was cut short by the outrageous remarks made by newly reelected Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter at his press conference on Wednesday. Specter warned President Bush "to be mindful of the considerations which I am mentioning." The "considerations" Specter mentioned were that "Bush's conservative judicial picks" would not be confirmed.

Specter is in line to become the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in January. As Chairman he would largely control the confirmation process for the President's judicial nominees. Specter voted against the confirmation of Judge Bork and the impeachment of President Clinton. He is supported by NARAL. He must not become the next Chairman.

Before January Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist will pick the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Specter has the seniority that would normally entitle him to be named the Chairman. But, Senator Bill Frist has the power the waive the Senate Rules and appoint someone else as Chairman. Arlen Specter MUST NOT become the Chairman and be in a position to negate all that has been accomplished in the election of President Bush.

Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their Country.

Send a message to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist by telephone (202-22-3344), email (Bill_Frist@Frist.Senate.gov), mail (461 Dirksen Senate Office Building / Wahington, DC 20510) or FAX (202-228-1264) along the following lines:

Senator Arlen Specter must not be appointed Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. You have the power to waive the Senate seniority rule and to appoint someone else. Do not let the election victory of President Bush be endangered by the appointment of Senator Specter who has already warned the President not to appoint conservative judges.

The time to act is NOW!

[ken5050]

Good one Arlen...In one inept moment, you managed to piss off Bush, most of the GOP senators, tens of millions of conservatives, and God..

[dangus]

Cool. Who's Bishop Gracida?

[sidewalk]

Senator Frist's number is 202-224-3344. Oddly enough, his line is busy.

[bayourod]

The Chairman of the Judiciary Committee can smooth the way through the committee for a nominee

Or he can allow the opponents to call an unending string of attack witnesses who, along with the Old Media, can generate so much hatred of the nominee that Democrat Senators have to oppose ending the filibuster.

Bork Specter before he Borks us.

[IrishBrewer]

I was able to get through on Frist's other line (a TN number I think). It is: 615-352-9411. I also sent letters to him, Bush/Cheney and all the other Judiciary committee members.

I think the best option would be for Grassley to step down from his position on the Finance committee giving it up to Hatch so he (Grassley) becomes next in line for the Judiciary chair (ahead of Specter). Specter can continue to serve on the Veteran's Affairs committee. So the big question is whether Grassley and Frist would go along with such a strategy. I truly believe that in this term, the chair of the Judiciary committee is the most important position in the Senate, possibly with the exception to the Senate Majority leader, Frist.

[Mach9]

Whose numbers were higherin PA, in Philly--Spectre's or Bush's?

[TheBattman]

But will Frist have the guts to take action? I seriously doubt it.

Will the Republicans in the Senate take action? I seriously doubt it.

What the Republican Party desperately lacks - GUTS.

[Goreknowshowtocheat]

We are likely to get through the next four years without making any improvement in the judge situation. Unless the 60 vote clotsure rule is changed, the demons will probably talk the nominees off the table. The Pubbies have a long history of cowardice. Do you think they will change now?

[IrishBrewer]

Philadelpha county is HEAVILY skewed toward Democrats. Were it not for that county, Bush would have won handily. Bush only got 19% of the vote there and Specter managed to get 28%.

[Mach9]

University-count contributes to that (resident staffs, faculty & some students), then minorities, then "Catholic" dems. Might be worthwhile to concentrate on the college population not just through YAF, YR, CR but through parents, ROTC programs, corporate lecture (and JOB) programs ?

[Catie]

Please contact GOP Judiciary Committee members to express your disapproval of Specter:
http://stopspecter.savethegop.com/index.php?page=act

[Cicero]

If they don't deal with this issue one way or another, it will completely derail Bush's momentum and have a severely bad effect on the 2006 congressional elections, not to speak of 2008.

All those religious conservatives who came out in 2004 will stay home, just like they did with Bob Dole.

I don't care how they fix it. But fix it they must. Especially since Specter wouldn't even be there without the personal intervention of Bush and Rove.

[Agitate]

Looks like our voices are being heard!
The people rule!

Conservative wing raises fuss over Specter's views
Carl Hulse, New York Times
November 6, 2004
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Angry conservatives flooded Senate phone and fax lines Friday demanding that Republicans prevent Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., from presiding over the Judiciary Committee for saying two days earlier that judicial nominees who strongly oppose abortion might be rejected.

Republican senators and their aides, speaking privately for the most part, said the uproar posed an impediment for Specter, who is in line to succeed chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, atop the committee that examines judicial nominees. It was likely that he would still get the post, they said, but not certain. "He is not out of the woods," said one aide.
Stop Specter!


Offices of Senator Frist:

Washington, D.C. Office of Senator Bill Frist, M.D. 461 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 202-224-3344 202-228-1264 (fax)	Nashville 28 White Bridge Road Suite 211 Nashville, TN 37205 615-352-941 615-352-9985 (fax)
Chattanooga James Building 735 Broad Street, Suite 701 Chattanooga, TN 37402 423-756-2757 423-756-5313 (fax)	Jackson 200 East Main Street Suite 111 Jackson, TN 38301 731-424-9655 731-424-8322 (fax)
Kingsport/Tri-Cities 10368 Wallace Alley Street Suite 7 Kingsport, TN 37663 423-323-1252 423-323-0358 (fax)	Knoxville Twelve Oaks Executive Park Building One, Suite 170 Knoxville, TN 37919 865-602-7977 865-602-7979 (fax)
Memphis 5100 Poplar Avenue Suite 514 Memphis, TN 38137 901-683-1910 901-683-3610 (fax)

See also:
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Find & Write your Senators Here
Senator Frist Web Form

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