Posted on 11/05/2004 1:01:45 PM PST by cpforlife.org
National Right to Life URGENT CONGRESSIONAL ALERT
This is an urgent congressional alert from National Right to Life in Washington, D.C., issued Friday, November 5, 2004, at 3 p.m. ET. For updates, go to our website at http://www.nrlc.org. Please forward this e-mail to any appropriate lists!
Help Prevent Arlen Specter From Becoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee!
It is likely that President Bush will have the opportunity to nominate two or more justices of the U.S. Supreme Court during the next four years. Pro-abortion advocacy groups are vowing to do everything in their power to block the President's nominees in the Senate. There has not been a vacancy on the Court for over 10 years, but in recent weeks the press has reported that Chief Justice William Rehnquist is seriously ill.
When President Bush nominates a man or woman to the Supreme Court, that nomination goes first to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which conducts hearings and votes on the nomination. The chairman of the Judiciary Committee will be crucial in shepherding the President's nominees to successful confirmation votes in the committee and in the full Senate.
But what if the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee was himself undercutting President Bush's nominee -- or even actively opposing confirmation of the nominee?
Soon, the Republican members of the Judiciary Committee must decide on who they want as their chairman. Ordinarily, this job would go to the most-senior Republican committee member who does not chair some other major committee. However, in this case, that senior committee member is Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.).
Specter would be a disaster as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Senator Specter has a strongly pro-abortion record, and he is one of the leading champions of human cloning. In 1987, as a member of the Judiciary Committee, Specter played a key role in defeating President Reagan's nominee to the Supreme Court, Judge Robert Bork, who was on record in opposition to Roe v. Wade. In 1995, Specter briefly sought the Republican presidential nomination on a pro-abortion platform. In January 2001, Specter complained on a TV program that some nominees for the Supreme Court were reluctant to take clear positions on Roe v. Wade, and he said that he might have to start withholding his support in such cases.
On November 3, 2004, the day after the election, Specter told reporters that he considers Roe v. Wade "inviolate," and indicated that he believes that nominees who do not express support for that ruling cannot be confirmed. Asked if he would support President Bush's judicial nominees, Specter replied, "That obviously depends upon the president's judicial nominees."
On November 4, those remarks were widely reported in the news media as a "warning" to the White House. The same day, Specter issued a statement saying that he had been warning of possible filibusters by Democrats -- but he did not pledge to support President Bush's nominations to the Supreme Court.
Senator Specter assumes he has a lock on the job -- but actually, he does not have an entitlement to the Judiciary Committee chairmanship.
If another Republican member of the committee decides to challenge Specter and gains the support of a majority of Republican members of the committee, then the decision would go before the entire Republican conference, which is the caucus of all of the Republican senators who will serve in the new Congress that convenes in January. In that case, the 55 Republican senators would decide who will be chairman by a secret ballot.
Thus, ultimately, every Republican senator can have a voice on who holds the powerful gavel at the Judiciary Committee.
ACTION ITEMS:
Please take these three actions immediately, and urge others to do the same:
1. If one or both of the U.S. senators who will represent your state in the new Congress is a Republican, contact his or her office immediately with this message: "Senator Specter must not become chairman of the Judiciary Committee. We urge Senator ______ to support any other Republican member of the Judiciary Committee to become chairman -- anyone but Arlen Specter." The offices of continuing senators can be contacted by telephone through the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121, and appropriate e-mail messages can be sent to them via the National Right to Life Legislative Action Center at http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/home/ Please use both phone AND e-mail.
[NOTE: We will post contact information for the seven newly elected Republican senators on our website's Legislative Action Center as soon as it becomes available. For some of these, local campaign offices may still be open and taking messages. The seven newly elected Republican senators are Mel Martinez (Fl.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.), David Vitter (La.), Richard Burr (NC), Tom Coburn (Ok.), Jim DeMint (SC), and John Thune (SD).]
2. Call the office of Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tn.) at 202-224-3344, with a message along these lines: "Senator Arlen Specter MUST NOT become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He would use that position to protect Roe v. Wade and to advance abortion and human cloning. We urge you to do everything in your power to ensure that a pro-life Republican becomes chairman, not Specter." You can also send Sen. Frist a fax at 202-228-1264, and send him an e-mail using the webform at the National Right to Life Legislative Action Center at http://www.capwiz.com/nrlc/mail/?id=540&type=CO&state=TN
[NOTE: The majority leader does NOT have the power to simply appoint a chairman for the Judiciary Committee. But Senator Frist can be influential in guiding the Republican senators collectively to solve this urgent problem.]
3. If you receive a response from the office of any Republican senator, or see a statement on the matter by your senator in the news media, please forward it to the Federal Legislation Department at National Right to Life at Legfederal@aol.com, or by fax to 202-347-3668, or by phone to 202-626-8820.
SPECIAL ACTION ITEM:
If your Republican senator is already a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he can be especially influential in deciding who the new chairman will be. Please make every effort to encourage other constituents to contact the Republican committee members who are listed below. (NOTE: One or more NEW Republican senators may be appointed to the committee later this month, but it is not yet known who they will be.)
Orrin Hatch (Utah) Charles Grassley (Iowa) Jon Kyl (Az.) Mike DeWine (Ohio) Jeff Sessions (Al.) Lindsey Graham (SC) Larry Craig (Id.) Saxby Chambliss (Ga.) John Cornyn (Tx.)
BULLS EYE
"I listened to Laura Ingraham's show this morning and she spent almost the whole 3 hours talking about this."
Was that live? I understand her show airs late pm in NYC and would like to catch her talking about this.
What an incredibly GREAT story! You made my day and probably everyone who reads your post.
God bless you and Mrs. sierrahome for choosing life!!!!
Life begins at conception--NOT birth.
Birth is one day in the life of a person who is already nine months old.
John Thune should be appointed to this committee, maybe as Chairman to show the left the fruit of their efforts!
Yes, it was live. Is her night time show live? If it is, she does two a day. If yours is a replay, then I'm sure you will enjoy it. It was like she was taking her talking points from the threads we had going on FR yesterday.
She, though, has a lot more notoriety and can really cause a stink. She said that "We" cannot just sit back and enjoy Bush's win, we have to see that his agenda is taken up by the Congress so it is our responsibility to nudge our congresspeople and senators when we see something not right.
Frist's mailbox is full at 6:10 EST
I passed it on to some pro-lifers. I hope you all did, too.
I called all the members of the Judiciary, including Kyl's and suggested that if Kyl wanted to challenge Specter, he would have a lot of grassroot support. The legislative aid I spoke to sure sounded open to the idea of Kyle heading the judiciary.
I listened today also. Your report is accurate. Laura was GREAT!
How true! ... How True!
Thanks for posting and working your thread.
Change takes effort. The real fight has just begun.
Praise God for the victory.
How true! ... How True!
Thanks for posting and working your thread.
Change takes effort. The real fight has just begun.
Praise God for the victory.
Ithink that the pajamahadeen are a force to be reckoned with.
We are under time restraints as well, because I think they will do this as soon as congress gets back. BTW, how much friggin time do these guys need off anyway? The president was having a cabinet meeting on the very day after his acceptance speech. I don't know who makes the rules for the "vacation" schedule for the congress, but I don't think we are getting our moneys worth.
It seems like the last week of every session they are having to put all of the bills that have been worked on for several months, into one big omnibus bill. I watch C-span and I can tell you that the omnibus bills are done behind closed doors. Frist just comes out and tells the "president
on the floor that they have passed this and that bill, but no one watching knows what bills are included and what "pork" has been added.
Does anyone know if this is a "constitutional" schedule, or can we complain about this?
From Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation
CONTINUED ACTION NEEDED ON SPECTER
Inspite of Senator Specter's back-tracking of his inflammatory statement regarding President Bush's judicial nominees, momentum is growing to have him removed as chairman of the Judiciary Committee.
Specter's statement that it would be "unlikely" for judicial nominees who oppose a "woman's right to choose" to be confirmed set off a firestorm.
Specter's arrogant affront to the president the day after the election was unconscionable. "The president is well aware of what happened, when a bunch of his nominees were sent up, with the filibuster," Specter said.
President Bush has made it clear that he will nominate justices to the Supreme Court who will strictly interpret the Constitution according to its
text and history and not legislate from the bench. Specter disagrees with this criteria.
ACTION
Continue to contact Senate Majority leader Senator Bill Frist at 202-224-3344 or 202-224-3135 and ask him to urge Republican Judiciary Committee members not to allow Senator Specter to be chairman of the Judiciary Committee. His Fax number is 202-228-1264.
Also contact Republican Judiciary Committee members at numbers listed below or through the U. S. Capitol Switchboard, 202-224-3121.
MESSAGE
"I urge you to oppose Senator Arlen Specter as chairman of the Judiciary Committee."
Republican Members of the U. S. Senate Judiciary Committee (all have pro-life voting records):
Sen. Orrin Hatch, UT, current Committee Chair
PH: 202-224-5251
FX: 202-224-6331
Sen. Jon Kyl, AZ
PH: 202-224-4521
FX: 202-224-2207
Sen. John Cornyn, TX
PH: 202-224-2934
FX: 202-228-2856
Sen. Charles Grassley, IA
PH: 202-224-3744
FX: 319-363-7179
Sen. Mike DeWine, OH
PH: 202-224-2315
FX: 202-224-6519
Sen. Jeff Sessions, AL
PH: 202-224-4124
FX: 202-224-3149
Sen. Lindsey Graham, SC
PH: 202-224-5972
FX: 202-224-3808
Sen. Larry Craig, ID
PH: 202-224-2752
FX: 202-228-1067
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, GA
PH: 202-224-3521
FX: 202-224-0103
that was a great great testimony...thank you for it....
God saved you from the insanity of having to live with killing one of your own children...
http://www.cwfa.org/main.asp
I'm posting this on all the links about Specter it explains the power of a chairman and the ruthless man himself.
For heavens sake go to Concerned Women of America and listen to this clip about Specter and an explanation of the power that a chairman has over these nominations. If this man gets chairmanship for the next six years we will not get any decent judges.It's now or never. When you get there click on the new link about Judical roadblocks . Give it time to play. It's stunning.
BUMP!
i tried to call his office but the voice mail was full.
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