Replies

Republicans send Owen nomination to Senate
By JESSE J. HOLLAND Associated Press Writer The Associated Press

Republicans sent a Texas judge´s name to the full Senate for confirmation for a third time Thursday, moving closer to a confrontation over Democratic filibustering of President Bush´s judicial nominees.
The Senate Judiciary Committee on a 10-8 party-line vote gave its approval to judge Priscilla Owen, who was nominated by Bush for a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.
The committee was scheduled to do the same for California judge Janice Rogers Brown, who is seeking a lifetime slot on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia.
Owen and Brown were blocked from confirmation by Democratic filibuster threats during Bush´s first term, but were renominated by the president after he won a second term in November. Democrats consider the nominees too conservative.
Republicans said Democratic complaints were unfounded and that Owen should be confirmed since the Senate´s GOP majority has the 51 votes necessary.
"She deserves to be confirmed and she deserves the professional courtesy of an up or down vote," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who served on the Texas Supreme Court with Owen.
But Democrats made clear they would attempt to filibuster Owen again. "Since we last considered this nomination, nothing has changed to make us think she should be confirmed," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.
Owen´s nomination is not worth the confrontation it will cause, said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senate´s no. 2 Democrat.
"This nomination is going to be precipitate a confrontation that we do not need," Durbin said.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has threatened to ban judicial filibusters to stop Democrats from blocking the judges again, and has been working to secure the 50 votes he needs from his Republican caucus to make the rules change.
It requires 60 votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster.
In an attempt to make Republicans reconsider that plan, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid has vowed to slow or halt Senate action on much routine business if Frist follows through with his threat to force up-and-down votes in which nominees could be confirmed by a bare majority of the 100-member Senate.
Without GOP defections, Democrats can´t stop Brown and Owen from advancing to the full Senate for approval since the Judiciary Committee has 10 Republicans and eight Democrats.
However, Democrats have promised to continue to filibuster all seven nominees they blocked during Bush´s first term. Democrats blocked 10 judicial nominees from confirmation through filibuster threats. Three withdrew and Bush renominated the rest.
North Carolina judge Terrence W. Boyle, a former aide to retired Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., who expected a committee vote as well, was held over after Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., requested extra time to review some of his rulings as a U.S. District judge. Boyle was never filibustered by Democrats because his nomination was blocked in committee by then-North Carolina Sen. John Edwards.
Another of Bush´s blocked nominees, Idaho lawyer William Myers, already has been approved by the Judiciary Committee. But conservatives would rather see the final showdown come over Brown, Owen or U.S. Appeals Court Judge William Pryor, who was given a temporary appointment by Bush after he was blocked by Democrats.
Pryor´s nomination is expected to be advanced by the Judiciary Committee next week.
Conservatives during the last Congress accused Democrats of being anti-minority for blocking Brown, who is black; anti-women for blocking Owen, and anti-Catholic for blocking Pryor.
Activists plan a similar tactic this year, with Frist planning to deliver a taped message to Christian conservatives on April 24 who say Democrats are "against people of faith" for blocking Bush´s nominees.
But Democrats say they blocked Owen, a Texas Supreme Court justice and a friend of the president´s, because her opinions and rulings are overly influenced by her pro-business and anti-abortion personal beliefs.
Brown, who serves on the California Supreme Court, was described by liberals as being a conservative judicial activist whose personal opinions lead her to decisions limiting abortion rights and corporate liability and opposing affirmative action.