Frank Lautenburg Speaks From the Grave Again

Thank you for contacting me regarding judicial nominations. I appreciate hearing from you.

I view my responsibility to advise and consent to judicial nominations as one of my most important duties. It is a duty that requires me to determine not just if a candidate has the intellectual capacity for the position, but whether he or she will protect the rights and liberties of individuals as established by our Constitution. While it is the prerogative of every President to nominate federal judges, the Senate must ensure that those judges have unquestionable integrity and relevant experience, and that they will follow the law rather than ideology.

The vast majority of nominees put forth by President Bush have been confirmed. President Bush sent his first group of judicial nominees to the Senate on May 9, 2001. Two years later, 123 of his nominees have been confirmed - 100 of them by a Democratic-led Senate in the 107th Congress.

This contrasts with the record of the Republican-controlled Senate which refused to act on more than half (56 percent) of President Clinton's circuit court nominees in 1999 and 2000, and did not confirm a single appellate judge in 1996. More than 60 of President Clinton's nominees were not given hearings or votes in Committee, and others were filibustered or waited years to receive hearings.

While I have voted to confirm many of President Bush's nominees, I believe it is critical to stop two of President Bush's most dangerous judicial nominees - Miguel Estrada and Judge Priscilla Owen. Both of these nominees have failed to convince me and my colleagues that they will not allow their political ideology to influence their application of the law.

Please be assured I will continue to closely scrutinize all nominations put before the Senate. Thank you again for your letter.

Good on you for writing anyway.

Imagine Miguel Estrada and Priscilla Owens being "dangerous".

Your post inspired me to once again contact our two useless Senators, Corzine and Lautenberg, or "Dumb and Dumber", as I call them,and again request a vote on Owens,Estrada and Pickering.

Of course, that may not accomplish anything, but it made me feel a whole lot better.

>> Funny. That's almost word for word what I got back from Levin and Stabenow. <<

Some lowly spinmeisters at the DNC probably write up "guidelines" for RAT Senator responces on every major issue, which is in turn written out by their staffers. I'm sure the vegetable from N.J. has no idea what the hell's ocurring in the judicial process, the seinal ol kook just obstructs and votes down whoever the liberals want him to and then reads some staff-written speech about how so-and-so was plotting to "take away a woman's consistional right to choose".

DNC guidelines for our Senators on judicial nominations:

*State to consituents that view the confirmation process "seriously" and consider it one of your most "important duties"

*State that your top concern is whether or not the nominees will protect and uphold "consitutional rights" and "civil libertries"

*State that nominee must have "integrity" and "adaquent experience on the bench"

*Inform consitutions that believe in "mainstream" candidates and cannot support "idelogies", "extremeists" and "those who do not support American values"

*Note that 123 of Shurb's ("The President's") nominees have been confirmed. Claim that our party went along with most of these.

*Attack and contrast GOP record-- claim they killed "more than half of President Clinton's circuit court nominees"

*Note: "they did not confirm a single appellate judge" (in the election year 1996, but that info. is optional)

*KEY MESSAGE-- imply evil Republicans are the REAL obstructionists. You may claim they filibustered most of Clinton's nominees, though this really is completely untrue.

* State that you have supported most of the President's nominees, but cannot bring yourself to vote for a handful of the most "dangerous" ones (NOTE: DO NOT MENTION THAT THESE NOMINEES HAVE NOT EVEN BEEN BROUGHT TO THE FLOOR FOR A VOTE)

* Villify Miguel Estrada, Priscilla Owen, Charles Owens, and that guy from Alabama with the dirt we enclosed to your Senate office during their confirmation hearings. It is especially important to claim they are closet KKK members and deranged wife-beaters.

*Thank constiutuent again. Ensure constituent that you value his/her input and will continue to try and work in a "fair" and "bi-partisan" manner "despite" the President's "extreme right-wing methology"

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