On Monday
Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT) took to the Senate floor to defend the nomination of
Judge Leslie Southwick for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals (full
transcript in Congressional Record) which is currently stalled in the
Senate Judiciary Committee. Southwick had been the victim of outrageous
liberal attack but he is a sterling nominee for the federal bench and deserves
a fair up-or-down vote in the full Senate.
Below are excerpts of Sen. Hatch’s remarks.
Regarding
the pace of confirming judicial nominees:
“That
is an average of nine per year and 17 per Congress.
It was
my Democratic colleagues who used appeals court confirmations in President
Clinton’s second term as a benchmark for appeals court confirmations in
President Bush’s second term.
By my
Democratic colleagues’ own standard, they will have to pick up the appeals
court confirmation pace to match what Republicans did during President
Clinton’s second term.”
Regarding
Southwick’s nomination:
“To be
fair, in the name of full disclosure, I must candidly admit that two important
things have changed since last fall, when the Judiciary Committee unanimously
approved Judge Southwick’s nomination.
First,
Judge Southwick has been nominated to the appeals court rather than to the
district court.
Second,
the American Bar Association has rated Judge Southwick higher for his
appointment to the appeals court than they did for his appointment to the
district court.
It
makes no sense to me, but I suppose someone somewhere might think that a higher
rating justifies more opposition.”
…
“It is
illegitimate to create a distorted, twisted caricature of this nominee, a
caricature that is simply unrecognizable by those who know him best and have worked
with him most.”
…
“Judge
Southwick’s critics are not addressing what the court actually did in this
case. They are attacking Judge Southwick because his court did not reach
a decision it had no authority to reach. No matter what your personal feelings
about the issue in the case, that is the wrong standard.”
…
“It is
wrong to suggest that judges are not fair to parties simply because they rule
against them.
It is
wrong to suggest that judges should prefer politically correct results over
legally correct results.
Judges
do not exist to opine on social problems or address social trends, they exist
to decide legal cases.
Judge
do not exist to serve political interests or pursue policy agendas, they exist
to settle legal disputes.”
…
“The
distinguished home-state Senators have given this nominee their strongest
endorsement.
None
of the factors that stopped, held up, or slowed down past nominees exist in
this case.
There
are no reasons or excuses for further delay.
The Judiciary Committee
and the full Senate should promptly approve this excellent nominee.”