Activism Report – The Miguel Estrada Press Conference & Rally (10 April)Reported from the “Senate Swamp” on the Eastern side of the US Capitol in Washington, DC.
Posted on 04/10/2002 10:58:35 PM PDT by Skeet
Activism Report – The Miguel Estrada Press Conference & Rally (10 April)
Reported from the “Senate Swamp” on the Eastern side of the US Capitol in Washington, DC.
With shouts, whistles and cries of, “Open the doors!” and “Eleven months is too long!” a group of Republican Senators and Hispanic leaders castigated Senate Democrats for preventing President Bush’s judicial nominees from having a fair hearing. The focus of today’s rally was Miguel Estrada, whose nomination to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has been stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee for nearly a year.
Senator Domenici (R-NM) spoke forcefully to the crowd, saying, “Enough is enough!” and describing the politically driven delay as an embarrassment to the Senate and the Judiciary Committee. Domenici drew laughs by telling Democrats not to be afraid to appoint Hispanics because they really are good lawyers and judges. He concluded by saying that Mr. Estrada fully deserves the nomination.
Senate Minority Leader Lott (R-MS), who had just arrived from meeting with the President, said that while Republicans count Mr. Estrada’s conservative views as his assets; the Democrats consider them his liabilities. Lott reported that the President “wants a hearing for this man.”
Senator Hatch (R-UT) noted that this is the first time a Hispanic has been nominated to serve on the US Court of Appeals, and said, “This man deserves this seat.” Hatch pointed out that the longer Democrats delay such nominations, the longer it will be before a Hispanic becomes qualified to sit on the Supreme Court. Hatch stated that he had not seen a better nominee in all his years in the Senate and that it was “a crime” for Mr. Estrada not to get a hearing.
Senator Hatch is right about the nominee’s qualifications. Miguel Estrada is an American success story. Born in Honduras, he immigrated to the United States at the age of 15. Just two years later he was accepted to Columbia College where he was graduated Magna cum Laude. Estrada attended Harvard Law School, where he served as a member of the editorial board for the Harvard Law Review. He was graduated Magna cum Laude from Harvard as well. Mr. Estrada has served as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, as an Assistant US Attorney, and as the Assistant to the Solicitor General to the United States.
Senator Santorum (R-PA) summed up the situation quite well by stating that liberals and Democrats just don’t want to see any examples of minorities who are conservatives.
The Reverend Martin Garcia, Executive Director for La Amistad (a coalition of Hispanic churches across the US and Puerto Rico) expanded on this sentiment today in a press release. “Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and other liberals are showing their true colors…” “Liberals profess to support ethnic diversity in our nation’s courts, yet when someone as qualified as Estrada is nominated to the federal bench, Leahy claims he is too ‘controversial’ to be confirmed.
“Judge Estrada does not think the way liberals believe Hispanics should think – therefore he is unacceptable. The only thing that’s controversial about Miguel Estrada is that he’s not a lock-step liberal who will actively legislate from the bench instead of interpreting the law. He’s being opposed because he respects the US Constitution and opposes judicial activism.”
Reverend Garcia closed by saying, “It is time to ‘set the judicial captives free.’ Miguel Estrada has been held captive for 334 days and counting. This is simply too long! We are calling upon Senator Leahy to stop playing racial politics with this nomination and vote to confirm Estrada immediately.”
As we talked with Kay Daly, her baby was doing an excellent impression of Senator Daschle. She thinks we should start concentrating pressure on senators from the Judiciary Committee and some of the swing vote states such as Georgia, Louisiana, Nebraska, and Florida. We agree. The FR Network will work with the ACU and other organizations to coordinate these efforts, and we’ll provide links and information to the Forum as they become available.
All in all, it as a beautiful day in DC and by comments I gathered, the rally was well attended. I estimated the crowd at 100 plus a sizable press contingent. The only other Freeper I noticed was Angelwood as she scurried through the crowd handing out her telltale stickers that read, “Full Senate Vote for Judicial Nominees.”
Here is Senator Domenici addressing the crowd.
Bump
Yehuda, ping fyi.
It's about time the leftists had their race card tossed back in their faces...
Thanks to all you freepers who attended.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.